metro india news  I hyderabad

Police arrested seven more accused persons on Thursday in Chilkur head priest Rangarajan attack case. The head priest of Chilukur Balaji temple Rangarajan was attacked in the name of Rama Rajyam army.

Moinabad police said they had arrested seven persons from Srikakulam, East Godavari and Bhadrachalam areas and added that so far, 11 people had been arrested in the case and were remanded to judicial custody. The police are on the lookout for some others who are absconding.

According to the remand report, Kovvuri Veera Raghava Reddy, founder of Ramarajyam army, hailed from Koppavaram in Anaparthi mandal of East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. It said the accused claimed himself to be the descendant of Ikshvaku dynasty. “With the aim of establishing Ram Rajya, he established the Kosalendra Trust and started collecting donations.

 He also recruited up to 30 members in his army under the name of Ram Rajyam Army. He met the administrators and priests of Hindu temples and asked them to support his ideology. He also made the members of his organization take a pledge to remove their obstacles if anyone opposed them,” the report said.

Veera Raghava Reddy, who met Rangarajan 10 months ago, wanted him to support the establishment of his Ram Rajya. However, as there was no response from Rangarajan, Veera Raghava Reddy, with the help of his lawyer friend Damodar Reddy, met 21 people at Uday Reddy's residence in Dammaiguda on February 4 and 6. 

Veera Raghava Reddy told them that except Rangarajan, all the priests of the other temples had agreed to support him. In a fit of rage against Rangarajan, who disagreed with him, Veera Raghava Reddy, along with his army attacked him on February 7. The police named 22 people as accused in the case.