BHUBANESWAR: Amid frequent security breaches at the Shree Jagannath temple in Puri, the temple administration has decided to strengthen safety measures around the 12th century shrine.
The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) had recently formed a committee of local police officers and temple supervisors who have identified all vulnerable spots through which there are chances of people entering the shrine illegally by scaling the Meghanada Pacheri or any other structure outside the wall.
Chief administrator of SJTA Arabinda Padhee said, “We will hold discussions with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and take measures to plug these gaps either by installing gates on the outer boundary wall or any other measure.”
Local police or Jagannath Temple Police will be deployed near the spots and signages would be put up informing people that climbing the temple structure is a punishable offence. Action will be taken against anyone found illegally entering the shrine under the Shree Jagannath Temple Act. The CCTV surveillance of the entire shrine will be intensified, he said.
The move comes after a man from Uttar Pradesh was caught while trying to scale the shrine near the Nrusingha temple on Friday. Temple security personnel brought him down and handed him over at Lions Gate police station. A similar incident had taken place a few days back when a Jharkhand man tried to climb the shrine. During Rath Yatra four persons had managed to enter the temple premises by scaling the Meghanada Pacheri, after climbing a garbage mound.
Earlier this week, barricades were put up at some spots around the main structure to prevent people from climbing the shrine. Police said the measure aims to improve visitors’ safety.