Odisha CM orders judicial probe into missing Ratna Bhandar keys
Bhubaneswar, June 4: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday ordered a judicial probe into the circumstances leading to non-availability of the keys of Ratna Bhandar (treasury) of Jagannath temple in Puri.
The inquiry will be conducted by a retired judge of the Orissa High Court and be completed within three months, said a statement from the Chief Minister's Office.
The decision was taken when Law Minister Pratap Jena met the Chief Minister at the state secretariat to discuss the issue.
The judicial probe will find out the circumstances leading to the missing of the treasury keys and further steps will be taken after the probe is over, said Jena.
The non-availability of keys of Ratna Bhandar (treasury) had drawn flak, with Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati of Govardhan Peeth having demanded a probe into the case.
At a meeting of the Sri Jagannath Temple Managing Committee on April 4, it was recorded that the keys of the inner chambers of the treasury had gone missing.
As per norms, the keys are handed over to the District Collector after locking the temple treasury. The keys are then deposited in the district treasury. However, there was no mention of receipt of keys either in the government treasury or with the Collector, said sources.
A 16-member team had on April 4 entered the Ratna Bhandar after 34 years to inspect its physical conditions following an order of the Orissa High Court. However, they could not enter the inner chambers as they did not have the keys. They returned after completing the inspection of outer chambers, sources added.
Meanwhile, the Congress took a dig at the state government over the missing key issue.
"Judicial inquiry is restricted to announcement only as the mandate of the commission is not clear. This is an attempt to divert attention from core issue," said Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President Niranjan Patnaik.
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Shocked parents stay put at Jhansi hospital waiting for their infants' charred bodies
hansi (UP) (PTI): Yakum Mansuri was sleeping on the pavement outside the children's ward of the medical college in Jhansi on Friday night when a fire broke out in the neonatal intensive care unit. He broke in through a window and managed to rescue some newborns but not his two daughters.
Charred bodies of some babies were shown to him by the authorities for identification but to no avail. "I couldn't recognise them," said the grief-stricken father, still desperate to find his daughters.
The blaze at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) that claimed the lives of 10 newborns, many of them born prematurely, has been doused but the air around is heavy with sorrow.
Parents, mostly young mothers, and their families who gathered outside the children's ward clung to one another, drawing strength in their darkest hour. The women's faces are hidden behind veils but their grief was palpable in their cries.
Santoshi, who gave birth just 11 days ago, sat on the ground sobbing with her face covered by her palms.
"I heard a noise and came running. But how could I save my child? There was no information, no one told us what was happening," she said in a voice shaking with grief, not ready to accept the loss of her child.
The fire broke out around 10.45 pm on Friday, possibly due to an electrical short circuit. As the rescue operation unfolded, many anxious parents and their families kept a silent vigil, struggling to comprehend the scale of the tragedy that had struck them.
While 10 newborns died in the fire, 16 others remain critically injured.
Among the heartbroken parents is Sanjana, who had just given birth to her first child prematurely.
"My child was born after seven months and was admitted here. When the fire broke out, no one could save him. He died," the wailing mother told PTI Videos.
Nearby, Sonu stood frozen, his face a mask of grief. He lost his seven-month-old son in the fire.
"My son had been admitted to the NICU for over a month. When the fire broke out, we were not allowed to enter. They saved many children, but 10 were burned. One of them was my son," he said to PTI video, his voice cracking with pain.
Sonu's brother Parsuram said, "We sold everything we had and took loans to buy medicine to ensure that he got the treatment he needed. Despite all this, we couldn't save the baby."
The Uttar Pradesh government has announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia to the parents of each deceased and also ordered a three-tier probe into the incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths and announced an assistance of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased.
