11 arrested for violence over queue system in Jagannath temple in Odisha’s Puri

Puri: At least eleven persons were arrested today for their alleged involvement in the protest here yesterday which later turned violent and damaged public properties, police said.

The police arrested eleven persons after examining the CCTV footage near the Jagannath temple in the Pilgrim City.

The Puri took action following the order of State Director General of Police (DGP) R P Sharma.

All these accused were court forwarded later in the evening, police informed.

Tension prevailed at Jagannath temple as a 12-hour dawn-to-dusk shutdown by Jagannath Sena to protest against the introduction of a queue system for ‘darshan’ turned violent.

An irate mob attempted to barge into the 12th-century shrine, removed the barricades erected near the temple and ransacked the office of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).

The bandh call was given by socio-cultural organisation Jagannath Sena against the newly-introduced queue system in which the devotees have to enter the shrine by forming a queue at the Singhadwara, which is the main entrance to the temple. After having a ‘darshan’ of the deities, they have to exit through three other gates.