Puri: A tourist from West Bengal was arrested after being caught taking photos and videos, using a spy camera, near the sanctum sanctorum of Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri town on Saturday.
The tourist has been identified as Bhaskar Samanta (26), a resident of Hooghly. He has been booked under BNS sections for intentionally committing acts that offend religious sentiments. He also faces charges under Section 30A(4)(C) of the Shree Jagannath Temple Act, which prohibits cameras inside the 12th-century shrine.
It is suspected that he managed to bypass security checks since a large number of devotees had thronged the temple for Holi.
Though police found that he has no prior criminal record, investigation is underway to verifying Samanta’s motive behind using the spy camera, which has been seized. He identified himself as a farmer during questioning, police sources said.
Puri SP Vinit Agrawal has sought a report from temple security personnel regarding the lapses, the sources added.
