The State Government on Wednesday appointed former Orissa High Court judge Justice Raghubir Das as Chairman of the commission of inquiry which would probe into the missing of Ratna Bhandar keys of the Puri Shree Jagannath Temple.
Justice Das said that since he is at Bargarh, he came to know about the development from the media.
He has not received any official communication. It is a highly-sensitive matter. He would try to conduct an impartial probe into the issue.
Puri district Collector Arbind Agarwal said the district administration would provide all help and cooperation to the commission during its probe.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had on June 4 ordered a judicial probe into the circumstances leading to the missing of the keys of Ratna Bhandar. The probe is to be completed within three months, the Chief Minister’s Office had said in a release.
The CM’s directive came after law Minister Pratap Jena met him to discuss about the issue. The judicial probe would find out the circumstances leading to the missing of the treasury keys and further steps would be taken after the probe is over, said Jena.
Notably, the copies of the proceedings of the temple managing body meeting held on April 4 have revealed that the loss of keys of the inner chambers of the Ratna Bhandar was reported by the Puri Collector who informed the meeting that despite searches, the missing keys could not be traced.