Puri: To keep closer tabs on the activities of devotees and servitors inside the Bhitara Katha, the last point of entry for devotees in the Srimandir of the Jagannath Temple, the Puri Srimandir administration has begun installation of CCTVs in the temple.
Cameras are placed mainly near Bhitara Katha where servitors collect their dakshina (donation from devotees). Cameras would also help in crowd control at the Bhandar Gruha and Beherana Dwara, Puri SP Sarthak Sarangi said.
To start with, four CCTVs are being installed in the temple’s prayer hall where devotees gather to have darshan of Lord Jagannath and his sibling deities.Another CCTV camera will record the activities including crowd movement on the Jaya Vijaya Dwara.
The CCTV installation comes after an assault on a tourist from near Mumbai by two servitors in the temple premises last week. The devotee, Chetan Ganpat from Thane area, was injured in the attack by two servitors for the reason that he refused to pay a high amount as ‘dakshina’ (donation), while he and his wife were near the Bhitara Katha last week.
Another devotee Dalton Das had also been roughed up by a servitor Biswanath Bhoi in the Jagannath temple Saturday after a verbal fight.
Das in his complaint said he was returning from Srimandir through Marichikot when Bhoi pushed him aside at the Rath Yard and told him to take to the side of the road. This led to a brawl and then physical attack. Both were injured and admitted to the Puri district hospital (DHH). Although a police complaint was lodged, the two later agreed to settle the matter amicably.