‘Stop adding religious colour to temple fire incident’

Backward Classes Welfare Minister Ch. Venugopala Krishna on Monday alleged that certain political parties were adding religious colour to the Antarvedi temple fire incident for political gain.

Speaking to the media here, Mr. Venugopala Krishna appealed to the political parties to stop the campaign claiming that ‘the fire was a targeted attack on the temple in East Godavari district.’

“This is not time to play with the religious sentiment of people. The government is probing into the fire from all angles. A man, said to be mentally unsound, from West Bengal has been taken into police custody for interrogation over his alleged involvement in the fire. The reported failure by the Endowment staff to prevent the incident is also being investigated,” said the Minister. “A lead that some people attempted to collect honey from a beehive on the wooden chariot by setting the hive on fire is also being investigated,” he added.

TDP fact-finding team

Meanwhile, a TDP ‘fact-finding team’ led by Peddapuram MLA N. Chinarajappa visited the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple on Monday. “The government should order a judicial probe into the incident,” said Mr. Chinarajappa.