Bhubaneswar: Pressure is mounting on law minister Pratap Jena to make a statement on the issue of the missing key of the ratna bhandar (treasury) of Lord Jagannath.

While the BJP on Sunday demanded a clarification from Jena on the issue, different outfits held a demonstration in front of the Singhdwara (Lion's gate) of the Jagannath Temple in Puri.

The outfits alleged that the loss of the key and the attempt to suppress the facts had hurt the sentiments of the crores of devotees of Lord Jagannath.

According to the direction of the high court, an expert team had entered Ratna Bhandar on April 4 but were not able to enter the inner chamber, as they could not find the key at the last moment.

They had inspected the inner chamber from outside. Later, the administration had maintained that as the expert team could see the condition of the inner chamber from outside and there was no need to enter it.

However, the matter had come to light after Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb had expressed his surprise over the issue.

BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya said: "The government is not concerned about Lord Jagannath at all. Chief minister should make a statement when the key was lost and how it was lost. Why the government remained silent over the issue for the past two months."

Even BJD MLA Sanjay Das Burma said the law department should clarify on the issue about the missing key of Ratna Bhandar.

Demanding resignation of the law minister Pratap Jena, Jagannath Sena convener Priyadarshan Patnaik said: "There has been apprehension about the treasure inside Ratna Bhandar. We seek an explanation from the administration. What had compelled them to remain silent over the issue for the past two months. Even Law minister Pratap Jena who is supposed to look into the issue is silent on the issue. Therefore, we demand his resignation and strict action according to the law."

President of the Sachetana Nagarik Manch Prasanna Das said: "We had suspected something foul. I had lodged an FIR on April 5 about the key of the treasury going missing. The inspection of the Ratna Bhandar was a mere drama."

Three hurt

Three persons were injured when the car in which they were travelling from Sambalpur from Raipur dashed against a truck. They were admitted to a private hospital at Raipur. Maheswar, Rekha and Priyadarshini received head injuries.