Srimandir redevelopment: Odisha Police register case against Puri Collector under AMASR

PURI:  Simhadwar police on Thursday registered cases against the Collector, Odisha Bridge Construction Corporation (OBCC) and manager of Tata Projects, the agency executing the Jagannath temple heritage corridor project.

Acting on the direction of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) of Puri, the cases were registered under section 30-A and 2, b(c) of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958.

The SDJM had directed Simhadwar police to register cases after hearing a complaint petition filed by lawyers of Puri Bar Association alleging that work is being carried out illegally in violation of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) guidelines in the prohibited zone (100 mtr) of 12th century Srimandir as part of the Parikrama project. 

On April 13, the lawyers had lodged a complaint with Simhadwar police urging it to investigate the matter. Subsequently, they filed a case in the SDJM court alleging that police did not accept their complaint. They prayed the court to direct the police to register a case or conduct hearing in the case.

The lawyers had alleged that the administration was undertaking works of the Srimandir Parikrama project without obtaining necessary permission from the ASI and National Monuments Authority (NMA). In their petition, they also alleged that construction work in prohibited zone of the Centrally protected temple of national importance is likely to cause harm to its structure, they stated. The lawyers had sought prosecution of the Puri Collector, Tata Projects and OBCC, the nodal agency of the project.