After the allegations of molestation were levelled against a policeman by a girl during the Sandhya Darshan at the Gundicha Temple here on Sunday, the police are again in the news for the wrong reasons.
Some OAS officers on Thursday met Puri district Collector Arvind Agarwal alleging misbehaviour by police personnel while they were on duty during the Suna Vesha and Adhar Pana rituals of the Holy Trinity.
It was alleged that the police misbehaved with the Tehsildars of Begunia, Padmapur and Nayagarh while they were on duty during the Adhar Pana festival. The police personnel reportedly asked the Tehsildars to get out of the cordon. Earlier on the Suna Vesha day, the police had allegedly misbehaved with Puri Sub-Collector Madhusudan Dash.
The Collector asked the Sub-Collector and the three Tehsildars to file a written complaint against the policemen who allegedly misbehaved with them. He also said the CCTV footages would be scrutinised to ascertain what exactly transpired. Notably, more than 55 officials from outside Puri district were engaged in Executive Magistrate duties during the Rath Yatra. Top police officials also camped during the Puri festivals. However, the allegations of misbehaviour of the cops with the administrative officers have not gone down well with locals as well as intellectuals, who said this year the Rath Yatra was nearly flawless except these stray incidents.