Puri: Police on Wednesday detained a person, who is said to be ‘mentally unstable’, in connection with the graffiti warning of a possible terrorist attack on Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri town.
“This morning, we received information that some objectionable statements had been scribbled on the walls of a temple located on the outer Parikrama of the temple. Upon receiving the information, a special police team was formed to investigate the matter. Prima facie, the information suggested an intent to damage the temple. The matter was taken very seriously. We have identified the individual and he is currently in our custody. He is being thoroughly questioned to ascertain the intention behind the scribblings on the walls,” Puri SP Pinak Mishra told the media.
He identified the elderly man as Raghunath Sahoo. “From the preliminary inquiry, we got to know that he is a mentally-ill person. He confessed to the police that he wrote it. We are trying to find out what prompted him to write such objectionable things and also about the phone numbers he mentioned there. Questions will be asked again after the medical examination. He had behaved like this in the past due to family issues,” he added.
The graffiti, written in both Odia and English, on the walls of the Budhi Maa Thakurani temple, located near the Balisahi entrance of the Parikrama Marg, threatened a potential terror attack on the shrine. The writings, most of which were removed by locals, included a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The message, “Terrorists will attack and destroy the Jagannath temple” was put up along with phone numbers and instructions to call. Locals also reported damage to decorative lights in the area.
Meanwhile, security deployment have been intensified at the 12th-century in view of the Independence Day celebration.
