Threatening graffiti found near Jagannath Temple; Puri Police on high alert

Graffiti threatening to destroy Puri’s Jagannath Temple was found on a nearby shrine’s walls, prompting a high-security alert. Police are examining CCTV footage and investigating, suspecting a mentally unstable person, amid recent concerns over security lapses at the 12th-century temple

Bhubaneswar: The Puri Police are on their toes after graffiti threatening an attack on the famous Jagannath Temple at the sacred coastal town was spotted on the walls of a small temple near the 12th-century shrine on Wednesday.

An unknown person has written ‘Terrorist will destroy the Temple’ in Odia language on two locations of the wall of Budhi Maa Thakurani temple, located on the southern side of the temple near Balisahi entrance of the Puri Parikrama Prakalpa marg (Heritage Corridor) in the holy coastal town.

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The graffiti also contained the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some unverified phone numbers.

Speaking to media persons, Pinak Mishra, DIG-Cum- Superintendent of Police, Puri said that efforts are on to identify and nab the accused person.

“It was found that some objectionable posts have been written regarding the Jagannath Temple. We have taken cognisance of this incident. Our special team has already started an investigation to ascertain when and who wrote this. We have been taking the issue seriously as it is related to the security of Jagannath Temple,” said Puri SP.

Mishra also stated that police have been examining the CCTV footage of the temple and surrounding areas to identify the accused person. He also informed the media persons that the police team investigating the issue has already got some clues on the matter.

The Puri SP noted that everything will be cleared on the issue after the identification and apprehension of the accused person. The police suspect that the graffiti was written on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, some locals claimed that a mentally unstable person was spotted earlier scribbling random matters in the locality during the past couple of days.

It is pertinent to mention that pilgrims, senior servitors and locals had raised serious objections last month over security lapses at the Puri Jagannath Temple after some unknown persons were seen entering the 12th-century shrine, scaling the Meghanada Pacheri, the outer boundary wall of the temple, during the Rath Yatra festival.