The Hyderabad Police on Sunday arrested a man who allegedly attacked and threatened the chief priest of the Chilkur Balaji temple located near the city, The Indian Express reported.

The attack on CS Rangarajan took place at his home on Friday and came to light on Sunday after the priest’s father, MV Soundararajan, who is also the convenor of the Temples Protection Movement, reached out to the media.

Soundararajan alleged that a group, called Rama Rajya Sainyam, wanting to establish their version of the Ram Rajya, or the reign of Lord Ram, was responsible for the attack.

According to Soundararajan, the group aims to establish an order “in which they create private armies to punish the people who do not accept their mission or agenda”.

He added that his son had declined to get associated with the group. “They manhandled my son,” he said. “They landed blows on him in our house at Chilkur.”

Rangarajan had filed a complaint with the police and the matter was being investigated, Soundararajan said.

Rangarajan alleged in his complaint that about 20 persons had entered his home and assaulted him when he was alone. He added that he had suffered internal injuries and was taken to the hospital.

The group wanted patronage of Rangarajan and financial contributions to set up “Rama Rajya”, The Indian Express quoted the Moinabad Police as saying.

“We have arrested the main accused, Veera Raghava Reddy, who leads Rama Rajya Sainyam,” the newspaper quoted Inspector G Pavan Kumar Reddy as saying.

The main accused person in the case who allegedly wanted Rangarajan to spread the message of “dharma rakshana” like priests of other religions, has been remanded to judicial custody, the police said.

“The main accused calls himself the ruler of the sainyam [army] spread across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and that his word alone should be followed,” the inspector said. “The group is eight years old and has warned Rangarajan to accept their mission before the Ugadi festival or face consequences.”

The purported videos of the assault widely shared online showed Rangarajan surrounded by the group wearing saffron scarves and black clothes, and triggered outrage on social media.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader KT Rama Rao asked what action the state government had taken in the matter. He also said that “the protectors of Hinduism” had not said another “on this act of cowardice”.

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