Bhubaneswar: A missing key to the Jagannath temple ratna bhandar (treasury) was on Wednesday found inside an envelope at the Puri district revenue record room, but the "duplicate" tag to it has stirred a fresh controversy.

Sensing a row, law minister Pratap Jena said on Thursday that the key "was the one used by the temple administration to open the ratna bhandar in 1985".

Jena said a team of experts found the key, which was wrapped in a brown envelope, in the record room.

As the key was found in an envelope marked "duplicate", both the Congress and the BJP have raised questions about the "original" one. They have also questioned the sudden appearance of the key in the record room.

Jena, however, asserted that the key found in the record room was used to open the treasury.

He said the commission of inquiry, led by former Orissa High Court judge Justice Raghubir Das, would be able to throw light on the circumstances in which the key landed in the record room.

Puri district collector Aravind Agrawal said the key had been "traced by the grace of the deities and would be kept in the district treasury".

Later, it would be handed over to the commission of inquiry, he said. Admitting that the envelope was marked "duplicate" he said: "Once it is opened, the status of the key will be clear."

While it is known that there are three keys to the outer chamber of the ratna bhandar - one each in custody of the temple administration, bhandar keeper and erstwhile scion of the Puri royal family Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb - no one seems to be certain about the number of keys available to open the inner chamber of the treasury.

However, both the Congress and the BJP doubt the claims of the district collector.

Senior BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra said: "The collector has complicated the issue. Only 15 days ago he had told the temple management that the key was not available. Suddenly he says the key has been found. Action should be taken against him."

BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya said: "The administration had made P.K. Jena a scapegoat. How could the key be located within two days of the new administrator joining?"

State Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik tweeted: "The rules don't permit duplicate keys. Where were these keys all this while?"

In a related development, the state government on Thursday widened the scope of the Justice Raghubir Das Commission.

The terms of the commission's reference would include probing the role, conduct and accountability of individuals/groups/authorities in the missing key episode and any other matter connected with or incidental thereto, including suggesting measures to avoid recurrence of such events in future.

Speaking on the issue, Justice Das said: "The inquiry will begin from tomorrow (Friday) and information will be sought through affidavits."

Expert team

In response to the Supreme Court order to study the existing norms and other welfare activities being undertaken by temple boards in the country, including the Jagannath temple, the state government on Thursday constituted an expert team. The court had also directed the government to streamline affairs at the Puri temple and sought a report by June 30.