BHUBANESWAR: Puri police have busted a racket of fake tourist guides and arrested eight persons in the last two days for their alleged involvement in collecting money from unsuspecting devotees arriving at Shree Jagannath Temple on the promise of providing them special and hassle-free darshan of the Trinity.
Addressing mediapersons on Friday, SP Prateek Singh said they received information that a gang was luring devotees to facilitate special darshan at the temple and collecting money from them.
“Accordingly, police personnel in civil dress were mobilised in and around the shrine to nab the miscreants. Singhadwar police registered two cases and arrested eight fake tourist guides in the last two days,” he added.
Singh warned that stringent action will be taken against any person found engaged in such illegal activities. Police are also maintaining a close coordination with the temple sevayats to identify such unscrupulous elements, sources said.
Meanwhile, Puri police have requested devotees not to trust any individual promising them to provide special and quick darshan of the deities inside Srimandir. They have asked the visitors to immediately report to the police about such persons acting as tourist guides.