Hyderabad: The Telangana State Government on Wednesday suspended P. Sanjeev Kumar, the chief archak of the Basar Temple, and Sthapathi Paaraayandar Pranav Sharma over charges of shifting the Gnana Saraswathi procession idol from the temple to Devarakonda in Nalgonda district for the conduction of an aksha-raabhyasam at a private school.
The incident came to light on July 28. Housing Minister A. Indrakaran Reddy ord-ered an inquiry into it. He said that the government would not tolerate the sentiments of people being hurt.
Mr Reddy directed the Commissioner of the Endowments Department to ensure speedy completion of the inquiry, demanding stringent action.
The Minister expressed his anger at hearing about temple priests having participated in private events and resorted to shifting of the procession idol. He said that such acts would affect the prestige of the ancient temple.
