Andhra temple priest, 2 men with TDP links arrested for desecrating idol

Andhra Pradesh police on Sunday arrested the priest of a temple at Rajahmahendravaram for desecrating Subramanya Swamy's idol allegedly at the behest of two men with links to the Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP). M Venkata Raju, husband of a former TDP corporator and Dantuluri Venkatapati Raju who is a former organising secretary of TNTUC, an affiliated body of TDP, were also arrested along with the priest Venkata Murali Krishna.

In the incident that took place on December 31 at Vinayaka temple, both hands of the idol were broken. On a complaint by the priest, the police on January 1 registered a case against unknown persons under section 448 IPC (trespassing), 427 IPC (mischief causing damage), 295 IPC (for destruction, defilement and damage to a place of worship), 153A IPC (for promoting enmity, disharmony and feelings of hatred between groups on the grounds of religion). Police had constituted eight teams to investigate the case.

The investigations revealed that it was none other than Venkata Murali Krishna, the temple's priest who desecrated the idol allegedly in return for money offered by two men with links to the TDP, a police officer said.

“Accused with known links to a particular political outfit actively participating in the desecration of Hindu idols and the consequential propaganda run against the government by using images of idols on social media expose the malafide and alarming intent of TDP's leadership, apart from proving what the government has been reiterating time and time again,” an official police statement said.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has already accused TDP of being the core conspirators behind temple related incidents in the state. He pointed out that nine such incidents were strategically executed around the launch of important government schemes, with an intention to sabotage the same.

One of the nine incidents listed by the CM was the desecration of a Subramanya Swamy idol in Rajahmahendravaram. The incident occurred on December 31 when the government was in the process of distributing the 30-lakh house pattas to the poor under its flagship housing scheme.

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