Puri Gajapati blames Jagannath temple administration for missing keys
Bhubaneswar, June 7: Puri Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb on Thursday blamed the Jagannath temple administration for the missing keys of "Ratna Bhandar" (treasury).
Gajapati, in a letter released to a section of media here, said he failed to understand why he was made responsible for the actions and inactions of the temple administration.
He said that the Odisha government took over the management of Srimandir after the implementation of the Sri Jagannath Temple Act in 1960, which empowered the state government as the supreme authority for ensuring the safety of Ratna Bhandar and safe custody of its keys.
"After the Government of Odisha took over management of Srimandir from my late revered father Gajapati Maharaja Birakishore Deb in 1960 (pursuant to implementation of Shri Jagannath Temple Act,1955), the keys of the Inner Ratna-bhandara have always been in the custody of the government functionaries concerned," said Gajapati.
"After 1960, at no point of time, the Gajapati has been entrusted with the keys of Inner Ratna Bhandar nor has he been involved in any way with the handling of the said keys," he informed.
He said the few times that the Inner Ratna Bhandar had been opened after 1960, the Srimandir Administrator and Puri Collector had been involved with the handling and custody of its keys.
"Since 1960, the Gajapati has been entrusted with the custody of one out of the three keys of outer Ratna Bhandar and his authorised representative attends every opening of outer Ratna Bhandar with the said key, as and when required by the Srimandir Administration," said the Puri Gajapati.
The outer Ratna Bhandar could not be opened unless all the three custodians of the keys -- representative of the Gajapati, Srimandir Administrator and Sri Mandir Bhandar-Mekapa -- were present with the keys in their respective custodies, he informed.
"I am surprised to learn that views have been expressed recently in both electronic and print media raising questions about the role and responsibility of the Gajapati regarding safe custody of the keys of Inner Ratna Bhandar, especially having regard to his position as Chairman of the Srimandir Managing Committee," said Gajapati.
The controversy erupted after the keys of inner Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath temple were reported to be missing.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has appointed Justice Raghubir Dash, a retired Orissa High Court judge, to inquire into the circumstances leading to non-availability of the keys of Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath temple in Puri.
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Curbs on movement, assembly remain in force in Kashmir after protests against Khamenei's killing
Srinagar (PTI): Normal life in Kashmir was affected for the fifth consecutive day as partial restrictions on movement of people remained in force as a precautionary measure.
The restrictions were imposed on Monday after spontaneous protests broke out across Kashmir a day earlier against the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israel joint strikes.
Chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday held a meeting with civil society representatives and religious leaders as part of efforts to bring the situation back to normalcy.
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After the meeting, Abdullah appealed to people to maintain peace while expressing grief and anger in "mosques, shrines and Imambaras".
The government has shut educational institutions till Saturday, and reduced mobile internet speeds.
"Restrictions on the movement and assembly of the people continued in many parts of Kashmir on Thursday," the officials said.
A large number of police and paramilitary CRPF personnel were deployed across the city to prevent gatherings of protestors, the officials said.
They added that concertina wires and barricades were placed at important intersections leading into the city, while asserting that these were precautionary measures imposed to maintain law and order.
The iconic Ghanta Ghar in the city centre of Lal Chowk here continued to remain a no-go zone after the authorities sealed area with barricades erected all around it on late Sunday night.
The move to seal the Ghanta Ghar came after it witnessed massive protests on Sunday after Khamenei's assassination in the joint air strikes by the US and Israel.
This is the first time since August 2019 -- when Article 370 was revoked -- that protests on such a large scale have taken place in Kashmir.
