Odisha to probe why duplicate keys failed to open Jagannath temple Ratna Bhandar locks
Bhubaneswar (PTI): The Odisha government has said it will conduct an inquiry into why the duplicate keys of the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar, the treasury of the 12th-century Jagannath temple in Puri, could not open the locks on July 14.
The Ratna Bhandar was reopened on Sunday after 46 years for an inventory of valuables and the repair of its structure.
Members of a special committee tried to open three locks on the doors of the inner chamber of the treasury, but not one of them could be opened with the two 'duplicate' keys available with the Puri district administration, Jagannath temple chief administrator Arabinda Padhee had said.
Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said, "A lie was spread over the availability of duplicate keys of the Ratna Bhandar during the previous BJD government. This matter will definitely be investigated."
The Jagannath temple is under the state government’s law department.
On April 4, 2018, the government attempted to reopen the Ratna Bhandar for a physical examination, but the effort was unsuccessful due to the unavailability of the keys. After some days, the government said duplicate keys were found.
If someone has ever touched the ornaments of Lord Jagannath, he would definitely face the consequences, the minister said.
"I hope that such an incident might not have happened. We can get a clear picture of this after completion of the inventory," Harichandan said.
The reopening of the Ratna Bhandar was a major political issue during the recently held assembly elections. The BJP came to power in the polls dethroning the BJD which was ruling the state since 2000.
Senior BJD leader Amar Prasad Satpathy demanded making public the report of the Justice Raghubir Das Commission formed to probe the issue of missing keys of the 12th-century shrine's treasury.
Without conducting a further inquiry into the matter, the government should present the commission report along with the action taken on it, the BJD leader said.
The commission was formed in June 2018 to probe the circumstances under which the keys of the Ratna Bhandar went missing. The panel submitted its report to the state government in November of that year, but it was not made public.
Opposition Congress and the BJD have urged the BJP government to present a clear picture before the public about the Ratna Bhandar keys.
"Why were the locks broken? Where are the original keys of Ratna Bhandar? The people are eagerly waiting to know about the original keys. So, the government should present a clear picture before the public," Odisha Congress spokesperson Biswaranjan Mohanty said.
As the three locks could not be opened using the duplicate keys on Sunday, the special committee members followed the standard operating procedure and broke the three locks in the presence of a magistrate to enter the inner chamber, Padhee had said.
The Ratna Bhandar, located in the basement of the temple, has two parts. The outer chamber of the Ratna Bhandar stores ornaments used by the deities on a daily basis, while many pieces of jewellery are kept in the inner chamber of the treasury.
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Bank account in Ramgarh tracked for fraudulent fund transactions across 24 states, 4 arrested
Ramgarh (Jharkhand) (PTI): Jharkhand police on Thursday said it has unearthed a network of interstate cyber frauds and arrested four miscreants for fraudulent transactions through a bank account in Ramgarh district after complaints of 274 suspected transactions in 24 states.
The states where complaints for fraudulent transactions were registered included Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
The action followed inputs received through 'Samanvaya portal', a centralised, web-based platform launched by the Union Home Ministry to curb cybercrime.
"We arrested four cyber miscreants after a current account with Kuju (Ramgarh) branch of the State Bank of India was found to have registered suspected financial transactions in 24 states with the help of the Pratibimba portal of the Home Ministry through the Samanvaya portal," Ramgarh Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Lunayat said.
During the probe, police found that the account was opened under the MSME Udyam Registration scheme in the name of Shree Ganesh Enterprises, he said.
The account had been linked to as many as 274 complaints from different states related to cyber fraud and illegal fund transfers.
The registered proprietors of the enterprise were identified as Rahul Gupta (37), Ravi Kumar Verma (34), and Ajay Sharma (33), all residents of Ramgarh district, a statement from the Ramgarh police said.
During interrogation, Rahul Gupta and Ravi Kumar Verma revealed that they had opened multiple current accounts at the behest of Ritesh Agrawal alias Munna (40) and Sonu Kumar Jha (34).
They admitted receiving Rs 1.2 lakh in exchange for facilitating the opening of these accounts.
"The accused further confessed to sharing OTPs, activating mobile banking services, and handing over control of the accounts to the main operators through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. These accounts were then allegedly used to route fraudulent transactions.
Police said mobile data analysis of the accused led to the recovery of crucial digital evidence, including details of SIM cards, bank accounts, passbooks, ATM cards, QR code scanners, Aadhaar cards, and PAN cards shared through messaging platforms.
A total of four accused have been arrested so far and sent to judicial custody.
A case has been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Further investigation is underway, the police said.
