Antarvedi temple issue: Leaders house arrested in Andhra Pradesh to avoid agitation

Early morning on Wednesday, some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janasena party members were arrested by the police as they were trying to reach Andhra Pradesh's Antarvedi to protest despite police restrictions.

Visakhapatnam:Following the fire incident in Andhra Pradesh's Antarvedi temple where a six-decade-old wooden chariot was burnt to ashes, a number of police personnel were deployed in the area.

Early morning on Wednesday, some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janasena party members were arrested by the police as they were trying to reach Antarvedi to protest despite police restrictions.

To avoid further escalating of the issue, some of the senior leaders were also house arrested.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has appointed a fact-finding committee on the incident and the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) KV Mohan Rao in a press statement said that no person is allowed to take any sort of agitation in Antarvedi.

In a mysterious fire accident on Saturday night, an ancient wooden chariot or temple car of the deity, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Antarvedi in East Godavari district of the state, got burnt.

Expressing concern over the allegedly rising instances of attacks on Hindu temples in Andhra Pradesh, state BJP president Somu Veerraju on Tuesday warned of an intense agitation if the people behind the six-decade-old wooden chariot fire incident in Antarvedi, are not brought to book.

With no arrests made yet in this connection, the BJP's state president warned that they would no longer remain silent on the matter.

"On Wednesday, I'm reaching Antarvedi and from there I will give a call for a statewide agitation on the issue," he told IANS.

Demanding an inquiry into the incident by a sitting judge of the High Court, Veerraju said: "The incident at Antarvedi is the height of intolerance against temples and Hindu faith. The responses to such incidents do not reflect any seriousness on the part of the state government. The BJP is taking the Antarvedi incident very seriously."

Jana Sena Party (JSP) president and actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan also expressed his anguish and alledged that setting the chariot ablaze is a heinous crime on the Hindu community.

Devotees and Hindu groups smell a conspiracy and consider the incident as yet another assault on Hindu religion and faith ever since the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government came to power in the state.

(With inputs from agencies.)