Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the State Legislative Assembly Pradipta Kumar Naik has written to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urging him to take steps for conducting an audit of the Ratna Bhandar (treasury) of the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri.
Naik has requested the Chief Minister to open the treasure trove and match the ornaments with the inventory prepared in 1978. He also urged Patnaik to take necessary action in the case of any discrepancy.
“Though the missing of Ratna Bhandar keys came to notice in June, 2018, the State Government has not taken any step till now about the safety of highly valuable ornaments of Lord Jagannath, which is very unfortunate. Since the keys of the Ratna Bhandar are missing, the possibility of stealing of jewellery kept there is high,” Naik said in the letter.
“Opening the treasure trove and preparing a fresh inventory should be the top priority of the State Government. If there will be any discrepancy between the inventory done and the inventory of 1978, necessary step may be taken to unearth the mystery,” he wrote.
Naik termed the appointment of a Judicial Commission by the Government to probe the missing of the keys as “worthless”.
After submission of the commission’s final report, the Government did not take any step to open the Ratna Bhandar, he alleged.