PIL Filed At Orissa HC Seeking Probe Into Missing Ratna Bhandar Keys

Cuttack: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed at Orissa High Court on Wednesday seeking CBI probe into the missing keys of Puri Jagannath Temple’s Ratna Bhandar.

The petition filed by advocate Dillip Mohapatra requested the High Court to order a CBI probe into the matter.

CBI, Odisha government, Centre, Puri collector and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have been made parties in the petition.

Meanwhile, the state government appointed Justice Raghubir Das, former judge of the Orissa High Court, as chairman of the commission of inquiry to probe into the missing keys of Ratna Bhandara of the Jagannath temple.

That the keys were missing came to light when a team had gone to inspect the Ratna Bhandar for structural damages following a High Court order.

On June 4, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had ordered a judicial probe into the missing Ratna Bhandar keys after the issue kicked up a political storm in the state.

Opposition parties have expressed apprehensions over the safekeep of the huge amount of gold and diamond ornaments that is stored in the Ratna Bhandar.

The commission was asked to submit its report to the state government within three months.