Vijayawada: Temple offences decline in 2021

Vijayawada: Temple offences like idol desecration, idol theft and ornamental theft cases have declined in 2021 in Andhra Pradesh compared to previous year, 2020. No cases of temple demolition, digging temple premises, chariot burning cases were reported in the State in 2021.

The State police department has increased surveillance of religious places since some untoward incidents took place in some parts of the State in 2020.

According to crime data released by the AP police, a total of 13 idol desecration and idol theft cases were recorded in 2021 against 34 cases registered in 2020. Similarly, 35 cases of ornamental theft in temples were recorded in 2021 against 105 cases in 2020.

The State police are keeping strict vigil on the places of worship. Mapping and geo tagging were done across the State. A total of 65,299 religious places in the State were mapped and geo-tagged and 51,053 CCTV cameras were installed in temples for continuous monitoring.

As part of temple protection measures taken up by the AP police department, cops have nabbed 632 temple offenders while 323 offences were detected. The police department has conducted security audit regularly and CCTVs, firefighting equipment and generators were installed as part of the measures to increase surveillance and lighting in the places of worship. Watchmen were appointed in temples as part of security measures.

The department took initiative to form 18,895 communal harmony committees and Grama Rakshana Dalams, which work in coordination with police and local bodies to keep vigil during nights. The police have busted seven inter-State treasure trove gangs in 2021.

Speaking to the media, DGP D Gautam Sawang said the State police is taking measures to protect the places of worship and increased vigil to check any untoward incident. He said communal harmony teams and village Rakshana teams will play very important role in protecting communal harmony and check temple offences in the State.