Jagannath Temple Kitchen Vandalism: Suspect Detained By Puri Police

Puri: The suspect involved in vandalising chulhas in the ‘Rosaghara ‘ of Puri Jagannath temple has been detained by district police.

Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh tweeted about the detention and said the suspect has been identified from the CCTV footage in the temple. He was nabbed from an area on the Puri-Khurda border and further interrogation is on to find out how he managed to enter the temple and why he vandalised the earthen stoves in the ‘Rosaghara’, where entry of outsiders is strictly prohibited. Here’s the tweet:

According to a servitor, the CCTV footage showed that around 1.15 am, the suspect took the bhoga mandap path in front of Satyanarayan temple, through the pratihari nijog and reached nata mandap.

Around 1.25 am, four Jagannath Temple Police (JTP) personnel left a man outside the temple after the sevayats spotted him in the prohibited area. The sevayats later told reporters that the man dropped outside was behaving abnormally and is suspected to be mentally unstable. Police are investigating all angles.

Also Read: Puri Jagannath Temple Vandalism: Man Spotted On CCTV, 3 Temple Cops Dropped Suspect Outside

Earlier in the day, Simhadwar police questioned four JTP personnel over the vandalism at the holy kitchen of the Jagannath temple, where ‘Mahaprasad’ is cooked for the deities.

The four JTP personnel have also been issued showcause notices over the serious security breach. According to reports, one of the JTP personnel was in charge of security of ‘Bata Agana’ and ‘Nata Mandapa’. The SP said the four will also be questioned about the suspect and what they spoke to him.

As many as 43 earthen stoves were found vandalised at the temple’s sacred ‘Rosaghara’ (kitchen) on Sunday morning, causing furore among lakhs of devotees across the world and cooks (suaras) of the 12th-century shrine.