Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday constituted a 16-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the instances of desecration of temples in the state.
Director general of police D.G. Sawang said the SIT will be headed by deputy inspector general of police-rank officer G.V.G. Ashok Kumar and investigate temple-related incidents wherein idols have also been desecrated.
The incidents have caused disturbance to communal harmony in the state, the DGP said.
Sawang, in an official memorandum, directed the Crime Investigation Department and the intelligence wing to extend full cooperation to the SIT in the course of the investigation.
The SIT would periodically update the DGP and the additional DGP (law and order) on the progress of the probe, the memorandum added.
Several incidents of vandalism, including at the historic Ramateertham temple in Vizianagaram district, have been reported recently, leading to an uproar.
The police said they were still in the process of investigating the cases and gathering evidence, even as chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy termed the desecration incidents of “political guerrilla warfare”.