VIJAYAWADA: Kanaka Durga temple priest attempted suicide on Indrakeeladri on Tuesday after the executive officer (EO) V Koteswaramma pulled him up for his alleged harsh behaviour with a devotee in Gosala. According to temple officials, priest Mangalampalli Rama Rao was taking care of the Gosala in the temple. On Tuesday, Ch Venkata Rao, a devotee from Visakhapatnam, reached the shrine and wished to offer special rituals to the cows in Gosala and touched the cow in reverence and worshipped it. This act by the devotee irked the priest and he allegedly abused the devotee.
Immediately, he went to the Information Centre and lodged a complaint with the EO and One Town Police. Responding to the issue, Koteswaramma warned Rama Rao and instructed the officials concerned to shift him immediately to Anjaneya Swamy temple, Seethanagaram. Later, the police were also told to counsel the priest to behave properly with the devotees.
After being pulled up by the EO, a distressed Rama Rao attempted suicide by jumping over the railings of the hill shrine. Alert temple staff rescued him in time and provided first aid to him.
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