BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Thursday removed Veer Vikram Yadav from the post of chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and appointed Arabinda Padhee, principal secretary in the Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment department in his place.
A notification issued by the Law department said, “In exercise of powers conferred under sub-section (1) of section 19 of Shree Jagannath Temple Act, 1954 (Odisha Act, 11 of 1955), the state government do hereby appoint Arabinda Kumar Padhee as chief administrator of SJTA, Puri in addition to his present duties for the time being and until further orders in place of Veer Vikram Yadav”. Padhee, a 1996 batch IAS officer, had earlier served as the chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple and has considerable experience in the role.
The government’s move came in the wake of widespread outrage after the idol of Lord Balabhadra fell on ‘charamala’ (makeshift ladder) while being taken to the Adapa Mandap inside Gundicha temple in a ‘pahandi’ on July 9 night. Several servitors were injured in the mishap.
Earlier, a complaint was filed at Capital police station in Bhubaneswar against Yadav over the incident. Five lawyers lodged the complaint alleging negligence on the part of SJTA.