Vested interests targeting remote temples for political mileage: Andhra govt

Amaravati, Jan 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) People with vested interests are targeting remote temples to vandalise and gain political mileage in Andhra Pradesh, said an official statement from the state government.

"Attacks are being carried out by individuals with vested interests, individuals who wish to evade the law enforcers intentionally and thereby gain political mileage from the attacks," said the statement shared late on Wednesday night.

According to the officials, the government is doing everything it can with all the available resources to safeguard all places of worship in the state even as unknown miscreants are attacking temples late in the night when they are deserted.

"Most of the temples in question seem to have been chosen based on the remoteness of their location. Most of the temples are situated in locations that are barely visited even by the devotees," officials said.

The government is cognisant of the matter that the recent temple attacks have sparked a high pitched battle between truth and propaganda, considering the sensitivity of the issue.

"It is important that one gets to know all the facts before arriving at any conclusion," the statement read, pointing out that all these temple attacks occurred when high profile welfare schemes were being rolled out.

The government listed out nine such attacks, along with the welfare programmes they clashed with.

"While one could choose to run false propaganda about the government being indifferent to this trend, the facts state otherwise. The government got a total of 36,000 CCTV cameras installed in as many as 10,000 temples spread across the state until now," said the statement.

Likewise, the police have arrested 259 offenders and registered 150 cases in temple related offences.

Source: IANS