Bhubaneswar: The state government on Monday ordered a judicial probe into the missing key of the inner chamber of the Puri Jagannath temple's ratna bhandar (treasury).
A retired high court judge will conduct the probe and submit a report within three months. The key of the inner chamber is kept at the government treasury.
The temple administration came to know about the disappearance of the key when an expert team entered the ratna bhandar on April 4 following a directive from Orissa High Court to assess its structural condition. The team could not enter the inner chamber as the key was missing.
After the team of experts visited the shrine in April, the temple administration had maintained that as it was possible to inspect the structural condition of the inner chamber from outside, there was no need to enter it.
The outer chamber of the treasury stores the jewellery that the deities use daily and also for rituals throughout the year, while the inner chamber stores ornaments not used by the Trinity.
For the last two months, the sensitive issue was kept under wraps. The issue, however, snowballed into a major row after the media came to know about proceedings of the temple management meeting. It was learnt that the scion of the erstwhile Puri royal family, Gajapati Dibya Singh Deb, had expressed displeasure over the missing key.
Following publication of the news in a section of the media, various organisations on Sunday held protest demonstrations in front of the temple demanding resignation of law minister Pratap Jena.
As the issue threatened to develop into a major controversy ahead of rath yatra on July 14, chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday summoned Jena to discuss the matter.
Jena said: "The chief minister has ordered a judicial inquiry into the circumstances leading to the non-availability of the keys of the ratna bhandar. The probe into the circumstances in which the key was lost and who are responsible for it will be conducted by a retired high court judge."
Jena said: "The probe will be completed within three months. Once the report is available, we will be able to take a decision on the issue."
The BJP lost no time to join issue and accused the government of neglecting Lord Jagannath and demanded an explanation from chief minister Naveen Patnaik. Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, too, had expressed concern on the issue.
State Congress president Niranjan Patnaik said: "The Naveen government is trying to divert public attention from the sensitive issue. It amounts to criminal negligence and the government should have referred the case to either the crime branch or the CBI. We need an answer from the government why they remained silent for the last two months?"
BJP leader Samir Mohanty said: "The people responsible for the safekeeping of the keys of the ratna bhandar's inner chamber should immediately be put behind bars."
Senior servitor of the temple, Ramakrushna Das Mohapatra urged Deb to call a meeting to trace the missing key.
Convener of Shree Jagannath Sena Priyadarshan Panaik on Monday lodged an FIR regarding the "theft of the key". The last time the inner chamber of the treasury was opened to make a fresh inventory of the jewellery was on July 23, 1978.
