Puri: A 30-year-old man was arrested in connection with the vandalism at the holy kitchen in Puri’s Jagannath temple, police said Wednesday.
The suspect, identified as J Mohapatra, was arrested from Puri-Khurda Road Tuesday night, Puri’s Superintendent of Police KV Singh said.
“The man has confessed to the crime,” he said.
During preliminary interrogation, he revealed that he vandalised the ‘chulhas’ as he was “feeling uneasy about something” after visiting the temple, the officer said.
The suspect, a resident of Begunia area in Khurda district, will be produced at the court and police would seek his remand for further interrogation, Singh said.
He was identified from the CCTV footage of the incident that triggered a furore. Later, his photo was circulated to all the police stations in the state.
Four security personnel of the temple, who were seen in the CCTV footage driving him out after the incident, were also interrogated, police said.
A five-member police team was formed to nab him, they said.
Forty ‘chulhas’ or earthen ovens that are used to cook ‘mahaprasad’ at the temple’s holy kitchen were found vandalised on Sunday morning.
PTI