Puri: A day after police-servitors standoff that disrupted daily rituals at Jagannath Temple, a minor girl was allegedly misbehaved by a policeman inside the 12th century shrine Saturday morning.
The incident spread tension inside the temple premises.
According to sources, the incident occurred while the minor girl had come to the temple with her parents and relatives for a darshan at Srimandir today morning.
While the family members were inside the main temple, a policeman on duty approached them and offered to take them near Bhitarakatha for darshan of the Lords. Later, he took the minor while she was offering prayers to the deities near ‘Bahara Katha’ inside the temple, he took the girl with him and allegedly misbehaved with her.
The minor later told her parents about the incident, and they lodged a complaint against the policeman at Simhadwara police station. However, no police official was available to comment on the matter.
Several policemen were present inside the temple along with an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) when the incident took place. As informed by the Simhadwara police, efforts are on to identify the policeman.
It may be noted here that the servitors had closed the main gate of the temple, protesting against police assault on a sevayat, which lead to a delay in rituals Friday.
The temple gates were closed while rituals of the deities halted for over 13 hours following a standoff between police and servitors over entry of three West Bengal devotees December 27.
PNN