Bhubaneswar, July 18: Puri district administrator today lodged FIRs against servitors for manhandling a district collector and trying to stall the niladri bije rituals preceding the Trinity entry to the Puri temple yesterday.
District collector and deputy chief administrator of the temple Arvind Agrawal said: "Action will be taken against the servitors. They abused me in vulgar language."
Police said two FIRs had been lodged against six servitors - Damodar Mahasuara, Jaykrushna Mahasuara, Bhimsen Palinkidhari, Rabi Das, Ipsit Pratihari and Saina Khuntia - for manhandling, abusing and threatening to kill the district collector.
The problem cropped up after Agrawal directed officials to take action against a servitor, who had taken his daughter atop Taladhwaj, the chariot of Lord Balabhadra. Instead of co-operating with the administration, the servitors manhandled the district collector and even abused him.
The temple administration had already put a ban on devotees climbing the chariots. The servitors, however, had threatened not to follow the order and put up an appeal on the temple wall.
"I request all members of the Chhattisha Nijog, the confederation of servitors, not to yield to anyone's intimidation and forego our rights. On the niladri bije day, we, along with women and children from our families, would climb the chariots through the chara (ramp attached to the chariots) and have darshan of Mahaprabhu. This is the sevayats' traditional right. I, Damodar Mahasuara, as a fellow brother of yours, am prepared to extend all support to anyone, who is interested to climb the steps of the chariots," reads the appeal.
He also said he was ready to face any legal action. "Which law or sashtra debars a mother from visiting her child?" he had said.
After Damodar took his daughter on the chariot, the district administration swung into action.
The temple's chief administrator Suresh Mohapatra said: "We will examine the CCTV footage and take action accordingly. The temple administration has stopped this practice based on the directive of the Puri Shankaracharya and Orissa High Court. Except a few, other servitors have abided by the order."
Lord Jagannath's chief servitor Jagannath Swain Mohapatra said: "While no action has been taken against Shankaracharya for taking a contractor atop the chariot on the rath yatra day, why a girl has been singled out?"
In a related development, the district police today arrested a servitor for manhandling the reporters, who were covering the incident yesterday in Puri.
The servitors had targeted the journalists, who were reporting the incident. Following the attack, mediapersons across the state have asked the government to initiate strict action against the servitors.
