Rajahmundry: An old wooden chariot of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple in Antharvedi in Sakinetipalli Mandal of East Godavari District was gutted fire on Saturday night. The Chariot was reduced to ashes in a fire accident. The Chariot was built around 70 years ago, while the temple was constructed about 220 years back.

The cause behind the fire accident is not known, it is being suspected that a shot circuit may have led to the accident that took place between 01:00am and 01:30am. Flames suddenly engulfed the chariot, which was kept in a shed on the temple compound. An investigation has been launched.

A team was formed with officials from the police, endowments, fire and forensic departments to probe the mishap. The chariot, which was about 40 feet high, was made for use during the annual rituals of Kalyanostavam of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy.

According to the police preliminary investigation found that, the chariot was gutted due to the fire to get the honey from its nest on above the chariot, which chariot was covered with servitree sticks and Palm tree leaves. The miscreants who tried to get honey from the bees nest used fire to scatter the bees from the nest. Investigation is going on.