Odisha DGP accords top priority to access control, peripheral security in Sri Jagannath temple

Bhubaneswar: Access control and peripheral security are of utmost priority for the 12th-century shrine Sri Jagannath temple in Odisha’s pilgrim town Puri.

“Especially access control and periphery security are the two important aspects that we are looking into at present,” informed Odisha DGP R P Sharma while speaking to newsmen on measures being taken to strengthen security in the Sri Jagannath temple.

The DGP said installation of more number of Door Frame Metal Detectors (DFMDs) and deployment of additional security personnel in the temple is being examined.

“We are studying how crowding can be avoided while frisking can be done properly. We will discuss what measures that can be taken. We will examine if more DFMDs can be installed there. But that will require more apparatus and manpower,” Sharma explained.

Worth mentioning here that a team of the National Security Guards (NSG) had visited Sri Jagannath temple in August this year and had reviewed security arrangements at the shrine.

The NSG team had suggested some measures to strengthen security in and around the temple, sources said the current move is a fallout of that.