East Godavari: The wooden chariot of the famous Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh caught fire on the wee hours of Sunday.
Following this mishap, the state government ordered an inquiry into the incident to probe the cause of the fire.
"We have appointed Endowments Additional Commissioner, Ramachandra Mohan as the inquiry officer. He has been asked to coordinate with the police and find the cause of the fire", said, Endowments Minister Velampalli Srinivas.
The 40-feet high chariot made of teak wood was parked in a shed on the temple premises. The chariot is normally used only during the 'Radhotsavam' at the Lords celestial wedding festivities.
Police said that they are investigating whether an electrical short circuit or if any arson was involved leading to the mishap.
"There was a similar incident in Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district a few months ago, where it turned out that a mentally ill person set a temple chariot on fire. We are probing all such angles in this case as well," a senior police official said over the phone from Kakinada to ETV Bharat.
Read: Temple chariot catches fire in Andhra's East Godavari district
The Endowments Minister, who expressed anguish over the incident, said appropriate action would be taken after the investigation by the Additional Commissioner was completed.
The Minister also spoke to the East Godavari district Superintendent of Police, Adnan Nayeem and directed that a thorough investigation will be done.
He told the SP to take stern action if it turns out to be an act of arson.
Velampalli also asked the Endowments authorities to take immediate steps to build a new chariot.
Meanwhile, state Bharatiya Janatha Party president Somu Veerraju condemned the incident and requested Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to find the guilty within three days.
