Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Puri, June 30:

The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Monday wrote to the Odisha Crime Branch police asking it to conduct a probe into the circulation of photographs of Brahma padartha (life substance) of the Lords and secret rituals connected with its transfer into the new idols in the social media.

The picture of the purported Brahma doing the rounds in the social media The picture of the purported Brahma doing the rounds in the social media

The SJTA asked the Crime Branch to treat its letter as an FIR and conduct investigations.

Crime Branch ADG B K Sharma, however, said “We are yet to receive the SJTA’s letter and will begin our investigations when we receive it.”

An official statement of the SJTA issued on Saturday evening had said that some photographs of Lord’s Nabakalebara festival circulating on social media platforms were fake.

While the SJTA had advised the public not to believe in the photographs uploaded in the social media, its PRO Laxmidhar Puja Panda had appealed to the public to inform the SJTA if anyone comes across such confusing photographs.

Sources said the Chief Minister perturbed over the circulation of such photographs had asked the Law department to conduct a probe into the source of these photographs and to find out those behind its transmission.

While Law Minister Arun Sahu had warned of strong action against individuals trying to sow seeds of misunderstanding in the minds of believers of Lord Jagannath, his department had consulted the Crime Branch police in this regard. The SJTA's letter to the Crime Branch on Monday requesting it to conduct a probe is believed to be the result of this consultation, the sources added.

Meanwhile, suspended father-son Daitapati duo Kashinath Das Mohapatra and Jayakrushna Das Mohapatra on Monday moved the Odisha High Court challenging the SJTA’s decision suspending them for an indefinite period.

It may be recalled that the SJTA had suspended the father-son duo on Wednesday evening for the chaos inside the temple leading to an inordinate delay in the Brahma Parivartan ritual of the deities inside the Jagannath temple here on June 15.

The suspended father-son duo had reacted sharply to the SJTA decision on the same day and had threatened to take the matter to the court.