The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that said no policemen should enter Puri’s Jagannath temple armed with weapons and wearing shoes.
A Bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta gave the direction taking note of the violence that had broken out during a protest against the introduction of a queue system for devotees of the temple on October 3.
The Bench was hearing a plea on behalf of an organisation that has filed an application for intervention in the matter, alleging that the local police entered the temple with guns and shoes during the violence.
The Odisha government’s counsel said no violence took place on the temple premises and termed the allegations baseless. The counsel said that the office of the temple administration, situated around 500 metres from the main temple, was attacked and ransacked during the violence.
Uprooted barricades
The bandh, called by Jagannath Sena, a Puri-based social-cultural organisation, turned violent when a large number of protesters uprooted the barricades put up to facilitate the entry of devotees into the temple through the main entrance in a queue.
The Jagannath Sena had called for a bandh after the temple administration introduced the queue system on Monday on an experimental basis.
The protest was supported by sections of temple servitors.
At least 10 policemen were injured when protesters resorted to violence to enforce the day-long bandh.
The agitators also damaged a police outpost and an information centre outside the temple as well as the Town police station, prompting the police to resort to a mild lathi-charge and tear-gas lobbing to control the situation. Several police vehicles were damaged.
(With inputs from agencies)