Two men from A.P. held for taking photographs inside Arunachaleswarar temple

Two devotees from Andhra Pradesh, S. Akil Kumar, 23, and R. Venkata Reddy, 25, were arrested for allegedly taking photographs of the inner sanctum of the Arunachaleswarar temple on Saturday. The duo used micro camera-fitted spectacles to capture the images. Temple officials stated that this was the second incident of its kind in less than a month, following two youths from Telangana who were detained on August 8 for the same offense.

The police identified the arrested men based on a flash from Kumar's spectacles that alerted nearby devotees, who subsequently informed temple staff. Subsequently, senior officials from the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowment Department were notified. The temple had installed signage to caution visitors against photographing or filming inside the premises.

The police registered a case against the accused, who were later released on conditional bail. An ongoing investigation is probing the incident.