Inspector General of Police RP Koche, who after attending a meeting here concerning the safety of the Shree Jagannath Temple on Saturday, told mediapersons that all necessary measures would be taken to ensure that the temple and the devotees visiting it remain safe.
He was here to assess the existing security arrangements of the Srimandir. SP Anup Sahu briefed the IGP regarding the security measures being taken in the wake of reports of terrorist plans to attack the city during the Rath Yatra where lakhs of devotees converge on a single day.
Koche said, “We are in touch with our Delhi counterparts to get information in details about the plans of the terror groups on Puri temple. This apart, steps would be taken at the appropriate forum to remove all illegal structures that were posing threat to the temple. The metal detector gates and watch towers located at all four gates of the temple would be made functional and more manpower would be pressed into service to stand guard at the temple gates and periphery.”
He added that the police personnel would scan all accommodations, hotels and lodging houses in a routine to spot suspects and hotel owners would be advised to confirm the identity of the visitors before they were allowed to check in.Meanwhile, Srikshetra Mutt Mandir Suraksha Sammittee president Jagannath Bastia in a letter to State Chief Secretary JK Mohapatra alleged that the local Government departments and the temple administration were creating a stumbling block in the way of several security measures being put in place to secure the temple. He said,“The Shree Jagannath Temple is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) since 1974. The ASI rules prohibit any construction within hundred meters of this temple.
Surprisingly, the Puri Konark Development Authority (PKDA) has approved a number of multi storey buildings in close proximity of the temple while the temple administration has leased out patches of land close to the temple to a number of business establishments like two shoe stands, an information center, a luggage room and a power sub-station close to the temple wall violating the ASI norms.”
Notably, a security alert for the Puri temple had been sounded following blasts in Bengaluru and Hyderabad in 2006. A high level committee comprising top officials of the State police and administration headed by the State law Minister resolved to put CCTV cameras at sensitive points, installation of mobile phone jammer, security watch towers at four corners of the temple, metal detector gates at all the four entrances of the temple, frisking of visitors entering into the temple, issue of photo ID cards to temple servitors on duty and the employees, demolition of unsafe buildings situated close to the temple and ban of mobile phones and cameras into the temple.
Bastia said though the intelligence reports described the Shree Jagannath Temple as a soft target for terrorist strike, these measures were not properly implemented. He pointed out that recently laser photography of the temple and the city had been done by two foreigners and photo of the temple had been uploaded in a number of websites. Citing it as a security risk, he pleaded with the Government to take steps with the civil aviation authorities to declare the city as no lying zone.