Bhubaneswar, June 21: The probe into the events leading to delay in the transfer of souls of the Trinity on June 16 today saw the four chief servitors appearing before the chief administrator of the Jagannath temple to record their statements.

To ensure complete secrecy, chief temple administrator Suresh Chandra Mohapatra called the servitors individually and heard their versions of what transpired on the day inside the temple.

The four servitors, who were key to the rituals pertaining to the soul transfers, are Haladhar Das Mohapatra (Lord Balabhadra), Ramachandra Das Mohapatra (Goddess Subhadra) Jagannath Swain Mohapatra (Lord Jagananth) and Naba Kishore Pati Mohapatra (Lord Sudarshan).

Incidentally in the case of Lord Sudarshan (the deity considered as weapon of Lord Jagannath), Nabakishore Pati Mohapatra, who was assigned the job by the temple administration to do the soul transfer, had passed on the responsibility to his elder brother Debaraj Pati Mohapatra.

The temple administration, which has come under severe criticism from various quarters for the delay in the rituals, is conducting a probe and is trying to fix responsibility for the lapse.

There have been allegations that the delay was due to disputes among the servitors and some of them had made attempts to gain entry into the restricted area of the temple at the time of transfer of souls.

According to the tradition, the ritual should take place at midnight. But this time, it took place on the afternoon of June 16 instead of on June 15 midnight.

The four servitors, who recorded their statement today, however, refused to divulge any thing about their closed-door meetings with the chief temple administrator.

Chief servitor of Lord Jagannath, 63-year-old Jagananath Swain Mohapatra said, "Some servitors have sought to highlight irrelevant issues only to hog the limelight. But I can say with authority that only the authorised servitors had entered the restricted area at the time of change of transfer of the souls."

After the statement was recorded, Naba Kishore Pati Mohapatra said: "The truth will come out finally. There was truth in the written statement submitted by the chief servitor of Lord Balabhadra, 65-year-old Haladhar Das Mohapatra to the temple administration."

Haladhar Das Mohapatra in his written statement had named some servitors who had tried to create problems inside the temple at the time of transfer of souls.

The temple administration, which is facing flak for its failure to manage the affairs of the temple in an effective manner, is treading cautiously on the issue.

"If anything goes wrong, it will have its impact on the management of upcoming car festival scheduled to be held on July 18. We are fully aware of the role of daitapatis in the car festival. Without daitapatis (servitors), the car festival can not be organised," said a senior official.

Chief temple administrator Suresh Mohapatra said: "We recorded the statements of the four chief servitors. We have asked another four servitors to come to the temple office on June 23 and record their statements. Action will be initiated against those found guilty."

The violation of tradition during soul transfer has triggered a political storm in the state. Even senior minister Damodar Rout questioned the efficiency of the temple administration.

"This has surpassed the (16th century) act of the Mogul general Kalapahada, who had attacked the temple and taken away the idols and later set fire to them."

Taking a cue from Rout, leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said: "The honourable minister has depicted the chief minister as Kalapahad. Now chief minister has no moral right to continue in office."