Man held in connection with Vadakara taluk office fire
The Hindu
Temporary facility to address public concerns to start functioning tomorrow
The police on Sunday arrested ‘Andhra Pradesh native’ Satheesh Narayanan who was suspected of setting afire the Vadakara taluk office. The 37-year-old was taken into custody by the special investigation team following his arrests on Saturday in three other similar arson cases.
A senior officer with the Special Investigation Team said the man was nabbed on the basis of strong incriminating evidence including forensic findings and visuals from closed-circuit television cameras. He also ruled out any other sabotage attempt in the incident as alleged by some of the people’s representatives and government officials.
Soon after the incident, which took place on December 17, the police had zeroed in on the man and interrogated him in detail. It was a group of local merchants and people’s representatives who noted the suspicious presence of the man in all the previously reported incidents.
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.