Additional Director General of Police (CID), Ravi Shankar Ayyannar, on July 23 (Tuesday), intensified the investigation into the suspicious fire that broke out at the Sub-Collector’s office in Madanapalle of Annamayya district on July 21 (Sunday).
This development comes after DGP Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao dismissed the ‘short circuit’ angle and pointed to a potential ‘conspiracy’ following a three-hour inspection on July 22 (Monday). The investigation team gathered the files, computers, and stationery that were either fully or partially damaged in the incident for further scrutiny.
Additional Superintendent of Police, V.B. Rajkamal, reconstructed the scene of the fire at the Sub-Collector’s office. Ten special teams conducted inspections at the Tahsildar offices in eleven mandals of the Madanapalle revenue division from Monday evening to Tuesday morning.
According to information, the fire is primarily being seen as a conspiracy targeting the section containing the ‘22A files’ and files in about 25 categories. All the ‘22A files’ were seized and prepared for scrutiny by higher officials. Special police teams have already initiated efforts to identify suspects and take them into custody.
Efforts to rope in higher officials
According to sources, several higher officials of the police and revenue departments from Vijayawada are supposed to arrive at Madanapalle as part of the investigation, by directions of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. Top officials of the Fire, A.P. Genco, and APSPDCL have already joined the investigation team.
Moreover, the State government is contemplating engaging experts from the National Institute of Fire Safety Engineering (NIFSE) units in Nagpur and Bhilai to investigate the scene more scientifically.
Following the latest developments, the district administration had cautioned against unauthorised and over-presence of the officials beyond their working hours. The officials were also instructed to strengthen the CCTV network, particularly at the sections storing the crucial documents — since there were allegations that the CCTV cameras stopped functioning a fortnight before the fire. All the Tahsildars in the revenue division were directed to ensure night watchmen are present regularly.
Punganur’s Tahsildar office inspected
Meanwhile, Deputy SP (Palamaner) Vishnu Raghuveer along with a team of revenue officials, on Tuesday, inspected the old building of the Tahsildar office in Punganur of Chittoor district, to ascertain the safety of the crucial land records. The team collected details of the various categories of the files, and officials who had dealt with the section previously and at present.
Punganur Assembly constituency is represented by former minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy; it is also a segment of the Rajampeta Lok Sabha constituency held by his son Peddireddi Mithun Reddy. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and its allies had earlier alleged the duo’s involvement in the Madanapalle fire.
