Puri: A complaint was lodged with the police in Puri against Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra, secretary of Daitapati Nijog of Shree Jagannath Templei, accusing him of smuggling leftover Neem wood (Daru) from the 2015 Nabakalebara rituals for making idols for newly-built shrine at Digha in West Bengal.
The complaint, lodged by rights activist Jayanta Kumar Das at the Singhadwar Police Station, alleges that the senior servitor along with an accomplice, committed criminal breach of trust and misappropriated religious property.
It was stated that the act of the servitor hurt the religious sentiments of millions of Jagannath devotees and violated Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of religion.
As per the complaint, Dasmohapatra allegedly supplied the surplus Neem logs to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for making the idols for the recently-inaugurated Jagannath Temple in Digha.
The logs were provided without the knowledge or approval of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in Puri, Das claimed.
Notably, the Odisha government has ordered a probe into reports that leftover Neem wood from the 2015 Nabakalebara ceremony was used in the Digha temple construction.
Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on Friday directed SJTA Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee to initiate a probe into the entire episode.
It has been reported that several servitors of Puri Jagannath Temple, including Dasmohapatra, were present at the recent consecration ceremony at the the new shrine in Digha.
