HYDERABAD: The prime accused in the Chilkur Balaji temple priest attack case, K Veera Raghava Reddy, was involved in three criminal cases, including a sexual assault incident. He and his followers would not hesitate to kill those who were against their Rama Rajyam ideology.
According to the police remand report, on February 6, Raghava Reddy and other accused, wearing black outfits at a meeting, resolved to seek the support of all priests for their ideology and eliminate whoever opposed it.
He met Chilkur temple priest CS Rangarajan at the temple in 2023 and requested him to support him in the formation of an organisation called Rama Dandu. But Rangarajan did not respond. On January 25, more than 20 persons held a meeting at Penugonda in Andhra Pradesh. On February 4, they held another meeting at Dammaiguda, Kapra, with the help of Raghava Reddy’s friend and advocate Damodar Reddy where they discussed their success in getting the support of all the priests they met for their ideology except that of Rangarajan.
As per the plan devised by Raghava Reddy, on February 7, the accused barged into Rangarajan’s house and threatened him with dire consequences if he did not fall in line. “We are giving you time till Ugadi,” they said. Raghava Reddy grew furious at the priest’s firm stand and pushed the latter down. All his men pounced on the priest and thrashed him before fleeing on seeing a few devotees coming by.
After he was attacked, Rangarajan told the police that his disciples checked the background of Raghava Reddy and found that in several videos and on social media platforms he was claiming to go to any extent and kill people if required to achieve his goal.
According to the police, Raghava Reddy started Andhra Association of Telangana for Andhra People in 2014. He held the view that Hindu Dharma was destroyed by organisations belonging to other religions. He believed that since the police had failed to protect Hinduism, a special defence system was needed for ‘dushta sikshana, sishta rakshana’ to pave way for the establishment of Rama Rajyam. He claimed to be the incarnation of Mukkanti (Lord Shiva) and gathered followers.
Later, he opened a Facebook account in the name of Rama Rajyam with the motive of “dushta sikshana, sishta rakshana”. In 2020, he started a YouTube channel named ‘Rama Rajyam’ and started posting videos and conducting meetings in two Telugu states with a request to arrange people to form Rama Dandu for the establishment of Rama Rajyam.
Raghava Reddy also created and maintained WhatsApp groups in all the districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He registered an NGO named ‘Kosalendra Trust’ in 2022 for collecting funds. He then started the www.ramarajyam.net website with the help of a person named Shyam, a native of Uttar Pradesh.
Later, he started approaching the priests of famous temples in two Telugu states and urged them to support his ideology.