Seven More Arrested In Chilkur Priest Attack Case

The Moinabad police today arrested seven more individuals in connection with the attack on Chilukur Balaji temple's head priest C S Rangarajan, bringing the total number of arrests to 11.

The newly arrested suspects were traced to Srikakulam, East Godavari and Bhadrachalam.

For the unversed, the attack was orchestrated by a Kovvuri Veera Raghava Reddy, the founder of the "Rama Rajyam Army", a group formed to "establish Ram Rajya".

Reddy, a resident of Koppavaram in Anaparthi mandal, East Godavari district, claims to be a descendant of the Ikshvaku dynasty and seeks to advance his ideology through a Kosalendra Trust, which he established to collect donations and recruit members.

He reportedly recruited up to 30 members for his "army", and was meeting with temple administrators and priests to garner support for his cause. However, Rangarajan refused to endorse his ideology, leading to a growing rift between them.

On February 4 and 6, Raghava Reddy, with the assistance of his lawyer friend Damodar Reddy, gathered 21 associates at one Uday Reddy's residence in Dammaiguda to discuss their next move. There he claimed that all other priests had agreed to support him except Rangarajan, inciting anger among his followers. This led to the violent attack on February 7, when the Rama Rajyam Army members assaulted Rangarajan.

The police have identified 22 individuals as accused in the case, and are actively pursuing the remaining suspects.

All 11 arrested individuals have been remanded to judicial custody as further investigations continue.