YS Jagan's govt. issues GO over handing over temple chariot burning case to CBI

The Andhra Pradesh government has taken a crucial decision amid outrage over the Antarvedi incident. The case of burning a chariot at the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple has been handed over to the CBI. On Thursday, CM Jagan directed the DGP to hand over the case to the CBI followed by DGP's office wrote a letter to the Home Ministry to that effect. In the wake of this, the state government on Friday morning issued a GO handing over the Antarvedi incident to the CBI investigation. Home Minister Sucharita said that since the opposition was commenting on the Antarvedi incident making allegations on government, we ordered a CBI probe to ascertain the facts. She said opposition leaders were making unnecessary criticisms of the government in this regard.

Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan welcomed the move of handing over of the case to the CBI. However, he demanded that the CBI should not limit itself to the Antarvedi chariot burning incident and urged that the incidents in Pithapuram and Konda Bitraguntal should be brought under the purview of the CBI. Apart from these, the assets of temples and Dharmasastras across the state have become alienated.

Meanwhile, on September 5, the Divya Ratham in the premises of the Sakinetipalli Mandal Antarvedi Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy Temple caught fire. The chariot has a history of 60 years and is 40 feet high. As part of the Swami's Kalyanotsavam, a grand chariot festival is held here every year. Devotees were shocked when such a chariot caught fire. The BJP, Jana Sena and Hindu communities have raised concerns alleging a conspiracy by anti-Hindu forces behind this. Moreover, the AP government handed over the case to the CBI following a call for an anti-Chloe program.