Hyderabad, Feb 13 The Cyberabad police have arrested 10 more accused in connection with the attack on Chilkur Balaji Temple head priest C. S. Rangarajan.
Those arrested were from Srikakulam and East Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh and Bhadrachalam town of Telangana.
With this, the number of accused arrested in the case has gone up to 16. The police are on the lookout for more accused who are absconding.
Those arrested earlier include founder of Rama Rajyam organisation and main accused, Kovvuri Veer Raghava Reddy.
A resident of Manikonda in Hyderabad, Raghava Reddy is a native of East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. He and the other accused have been remanded to judicial custody.
Police arrested him on February 10 after the priest lodged a complaint.
According to police, 20-25 people clad in black uniforms trespassed into the residence of Rangarajan at Chilkur near Hyderabad on February 7 and assaulted him. They wanted him to support their organisation financially as well as to recruit people into the “Rama Rajyam Army”. The matter came to light on February 8 after Rangarajan lodged a complaint.
Police said Veer Raghava Reddy, started "Rama Rajyam" in 2022 on social media platforms, including Facebook, and operated a YouTube channel.
He posted Bhagavad Gita slokas and motivated people to join the Army to protect Hindu Dharma. He also announced that individuals registering between September 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024 would be recruited into the "Rama Rajyam Army" with a salary of Rs 20,000.
In response to this post, 25 members first met the accused on January 24, 2025 at Tanuku.
After four days of stay, they traveled to Kotappakonda, where they contributed Rs 2,000 each and had uniforms stitched by a local tailor. On February 6, after receiving the uniforms, they gathered in an independent house in Yapral, Hyderabad, and took photos and videos in uniform with the organisation's backdrop. The next day they traveled to Chilkur in three vehicles and assaulted Rangarajan.
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy spoke to Rangarajan over phone and consoled him on February 10. A couple of ministers also called on the priest.
The Chief Minister warned that such attacks on priests will not be tolerated and ordered police officials to take stringent action against the assailants involved in the attack on the famous temple’s chief priest.
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