Anandapur district police arrested YCP leader Bodimalla Ishwar Reddy in the burning of Sri Rama chariot in Hanakanahal village of Kanekal mandal of the district. District SP Jagadish told the media that on the midnight of September 23rd, some unidentified people set fire to the chariot of Sri Ram’s at chariot mandapam in the village.
The locks of the Ratha Mandapam were broken and petrol/kerosene was poured on the chariot and set on fire. The locals noticed the fire and extinguished it. The front part of the chariot was burnt in this mishap. A case was registered in Kanekal police station on 24th of this month and investigation was started.
Dog squad, fingerprints and clues team collected evidence at the scene. Key facts have come to light in the police investigation. In 2022, Erriswami Reddy and his brothers in the village made the chariot of Sri Ram by spending about Rs.20 lakhs. At the time of making this chariot, Erriswamy Reddy’s family members made it themselves without taking any subscriptions from anyone in the village.
This created differences between the villagers. Because of that, another group set fire to the chariot. In this case, the police arrested Bodimalla Eswara Reddy (35) of YCP at 6 am on Wednesday. Police said that the accused belongs to the same village. He said that he will be produced before the court for remand.
SP said that police will further probe by taking him to the police custody to know whether any other persons were also involved in the village in this incident. SP Jagadish appreciated the police efforts in resolving this case, for which he formed teams for investigation.
Immediately after knowing about the incident Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu expressed his anger and ordered a comprehensive investigation into the incident. CM Chandrababu warned that his government will not tolerate anyone if it tries to create law and order problems and if YCP leaders having criminal history tried to create problems they will be faced with severe consequences.