The endowments department has insured Antarvedi chariot for over Rs. 84 lakh. It is well known the chariot was reduced to ashes in a fire last Sunday. Initially, it was estimated that the temple would recover the insurance amount because it was a fire mishap. But, many problems were coming up in ascertaining the actual reason behind the fire. There were also doubts whether this would remain a mystery till the Central Bureau of Investigation would really launch a full length investigation and perform a miracle.

Till the actual reasons were scientifically established by some agency of the Government, it would not be possible for claiming the insurance amount. Moreover, there was the angle of negligence on the part of the endowment officials in security aspects. It is the duty of the temple officials to ensure proper functioning of the CCTV cameras keeping surveillance on the chariot and its shed. For various reasons, the CCTV cameras at the chariot location did not work. They were in repair for over two months or so.

On account of all these reasons, many doubts were cropping up on getting insurance on the burnt chariot. Meanwhile, the officials began efforts for making a new chariot with Rs. 95 lakh sanctioned by the Government.
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The mystery behind the burning of Antarvedi temple chariot is deepening with each passing hour. The authorities have dismissed the possibility of an electrical short circuit. There are no electrical wires or lights installed on the 50-ft shed in which the 40-ft chariot was parked. With this, efforts were on to find out other possible reasons. The investigating officials are facing many challenges especially due to the fact that the CCTV cameras fixed to monitor the chariot were not working for the last one month or so.

There were over 30 CCTV cameras on the temple premises. About 10 of them were in repair. The temple authorities were busy with various other things and overwork that they could not get them repaired. This has made the task of unravelling the mystery behind the fire even more difficult and virtually impossible.

Now, the officials are bent upon making a guessing game. They have taken into custody a mentally unstable person hailing from West Bengal as he has been wandering in the vicinity of the temple for some time now. But that did not make much progress. Some other persons close to the area were also being questioned. One remote possibility is that honey bee hunters might have climbed the chariot at night to avoid getting bitten by the bees. They would have lit up some flames to catch honey and that would have caused the fire.

Whatever, though the watchman spotted and alerted about fire within a few minutes, the chariot was reduced totally to ashes by the time fire tender arrived from far away Razole. Officials say that flames were immediately doused but the chariot stood there like a burnt out skeleton. Indeed, a tough time for the ruling YSRCP and administration.