BHUBANESWAR: A day after the Bhitara Bhandar of Shree Jagannath temple in Puri was opened by breaking three locks, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on Monday said controversy surrounding the missing keys and existence of duplicate keys which do not match the locks need a fresh probe.
Speaking to mediapersons in Puri, Harichandan said, “Why were the spare keys of the inner Ratna Bhandar termed as ‘duplicate’. This should also be investigated. The keys handed over to the expert committee for opening the locks did not match. Even on a casual look, one could witness the mismatch between the locks and the keys.”
The minister’s statement came at a time when there is a demand for the BJP government to make Justice (Retd) Raghubir Dash committee report on the missing keys public. Following public outcry over the issue, the previous BJD government had in 2018 set up a commission of inquiry under retired Orissa High Court judge Raghubir Dash to investigate the missing keys.
On April 4, 2018, the government had attempted to reopen the Ratna Bhandar for a physical examination but the effort was unsuccessful due to missing keys. In Opposition during that time, the BJP had vociferously demanded the BJD government to make the judicial commission report public so that the real culprits behind the missing keys could be taken to task.
During the election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too, had not spared the Naveen Patnaik government on the emotive issue. Suspecting involvement of the BJD in the missing keys case, Modi had promised that the BJP government upon coming to power would make the report public.
Responding to queries, Harichandan who is in Puri along with two of his cabinet colleagues on the directive of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to monitor the return car festival and Niladri Bije, said a suitable date for reopening of the inner Ratna Bhandar would be taken after the completion of Rath Yatra.
“We will let you know about the reopening of the Ratna Bhandar, inventorisation of valuables stored in it and shifting of the same to the temporary Ratna Bhandar, in due course of time,” the minister added.
He thanked the 36 Nijogs (sevayats), temple administration, district administration and all concerned for the smooth conduct of Rath Yatra so far.
