Puri: Anticipating recurrence of a December 28 like incident, the Special Branch of the State Police Monday wrote to the Superintendent of Police (SP) here to put in place adequate security measures at the 12th century shrine and ensure visitors have a hassle-free darshan of the deities on the New Year Day, Tuesday.
The authorities had a tough time handling the situations December 28 following non-cooperation of the servitors and subsequent disturbances leading to forced fasting of the Trinity for 14 hours.
Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator PK Mohapatra, however, brushed aside any such fear. “Servitors are very cooperative in performing the rituals since the incident. In fact, the rituals were performed smoothly and well in time Monday,” he said, adding that the Srimandir gate may be opened at any time post midnight for devotees.
Sources said apart from the Puri SP, the Special Branch has also sent the communiqué to the home department and Inspector General of Police (law and order) to remain alert for any untoward incident at the shrine which is expected to see lakhs of visitors thronging the temple on the New Year Day.
The letter said, the servitors are disappointed as they are yet to get a positive response from the temple administration since December 28 when the incident happened. With no options, they resumed the rituals. “They could perform the Pahuda ritual of the deities at 4 pm Tuesday. Devotees cannot have a glimpse of the deities for the day thereon. In such circumstances, devotees may create a furore, prompting a law and order situation at the shrine,” a source, referring to the letter, claimed.
Meanwhile, SP Sarthak Sarangi dubbed the letter as a regular official communiqué and there is nothing to panic. “We’ve been asked to stay alert. We are already vigilant. Arrangements are on to ensure devotees have a hassle-free darshan of the deities. Around 20 platoons of force will be stationed around the shrine. Other security measures are also in place,” Sarangi said.
The servitors were to start performing rituals at 3 am December 28. However, they did not open the Jay-Bijay gate of the shrine, citing police attack on one of their colleagues, Bhitarchha Bhabani Shankar Mahaptra. Hundreds of servitors protested at the Beharana gate of Srimandir calling for the SJTA to fulfil their demands immediately.
The servitors, however, agreed to perform the rituals at around 5 pm after the SJTA assured them of fulfilling their five-point charter of demands. The Mangalalati ritual was performed at 6.30 pm and the deities were offered Prasad, but not before 14 hours.
Meanwhile, hundreds of devotees were seen waiting at the Lions’ Gate of Srimandir for hours to have a darshan of the deities.