Barely three days following the appalling destruction of an ancient Lord Rama idol in Ramatheertham, few unidentified miscreants damaged an idol of Lord Subrahmanyeswara in a temple in Rajahmundry.
On Friday morning, priests of Vigneshwara temple in Sriramnagar in Rajahmundry in East Godavari district of Andhra found the arms of Lord Subrahmanyeswara severely broken.
“The incident took place between 3 am and 5 am on Friday. Our policemen were patrolling in the area till 3 am. Nothing happened till that time,” said Three Town Police Station Circle Inspector Durga Prasad.
This incident has occurred just 3 days after the 400-year-old idol of Lord Rama at the Ramatheertham temple was vandalised and the head of the idol was severed. On Tuesday morning, one of the priests found the doors of the ancient Sita Lakshmana Kodandarama temple broken open and the Ram idol in the sanctum sanctorum beheaded. The severed portion of the statue was retrieved from the nearby temple pond on the next day.
The police have filed a case under sections 448, 427, 295 and 153(3) of IPC the probe is under way.
Reacting to the incident, the BJP lashed out at the ruling party over the horrific incident, stating that CM Jagan Mohan Reddy’s inaction shows “implicit support.”
Former Chief Minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu also slammed the chief minister while claiming that over 120 attacks took place on temples as per a premeditated plan in last 19 months and over 23 idols were demolished recently in six temples at Pithapuram.
“Attacks on temples have become a daily occurrence, because of the government’s indifference. Neither the public nor the gods inside the temple are safe in the state. Matters would not have come this far if stern action was taken in the first such case. The government has the responsibility to safeguard the sentiments of all communities,” said former CM Chandrababu Naidu.
It is to be noted that Local TDP leader Ganni Krishna is trustee of the temple.
