The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), which has drawn sharp criticism over pictures of the interiors of the temple being rampantly clicked on smartphones and posted on the internet, swung into action on Monday and seized seven mobile phones from visitors at the temple premises.
Police detained the seven persons in this connection.
Sources said the servitors caught these visitors from West Bengal, Jharkhand and Haryana with mobile phones while they had come for a darshan of the holy Trinity in the temple. later, the sevayats handed them over to the police.
However, the visitors claimed that during frisking them, the security personnel at the temple entrance did not ask them to keep the phones outside.
“We did not know about the ban of mobile phones inside the temple. The security personnel allowed us after the checking at the entry point. But we have not clicked a single picture inside the temple,” the visitors said.
A temple official said, “Experts will examine the mobile phones. Action will be taken if the visitors are found to have clicked any picture and posted the same on social media. Else, the cell phones will be returned.”