More than two weeks after the Antarvedi fire mishap incident, the Andhra Pradesh government has initiated works on building a new chariot for the Antarvedi Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple.

Upon Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy instructions, revenue minister Dharmana Krishnadas is overseeing the works on building the new chariot resembling the six-decade-old chariot which was reduced to cinders on September 5 in a mysterious fire mishap in the famous Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Antarvedi in East Godavari district.

The government has ordered special Bastar teak for the new chariot, while priests have already performed the necessary ceremonies to being the works on the new chariot. The state government has allocated Rs 95 lakh to build a new chariot.

So far, the Andhra Pradesh police have made no arrests. As a matter of fact, the police are clueless as to who burnt the six-decade-old chariot. The Andhra Pradesh government believes that the opposition parties were politicizing the issue even as it has miserably failed to nab the culprits responsible for the burning of the chariot. Since the police could not make a breakthrough in its probe, the Chief Minister has entrusted the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).