Bhubaneswar, Nov. 26: Police today detained a youth after he was found taking photos of the Lingaraj Temple with the help of a drone camera.

Ranjit Kamble, 28, of Pune was, however, released after the police came to know that he was working for the smart city project. Kamble was caught by the servitors of the temple.

Kamble is employed with a consultant agency, which is assisting the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority in their smart city project. The servitors also allegedly manhandled him.

The servitors spotted Kamble near the north gate of the 11th century shrine. "We spotted a flying object over the temple and later found out that it was a drone. We caught hold of the youth and handed him over to the police," said a servitor.

In the police custody Kamble produced a document, which claimed that he had obtained permission from the civic body and development authority to capture the bird's eye view of the temple, which would be used for the smart city project.

"We went though the photographs and found nothing incriminating. Later, we asked both the agencies to verify his claims and were told that he was indeed working with a consultant agency, which was assisting the corporation and the development authority in the smart city project," said Lingaraj police station inspector in charge Janardan Padhi.

"I reached the airport and went straight to the temple for capturing an aerial view as it is a requisite for the smart city project. I also showed them the letter of the civic body, but they did not believe me," said Kamble.

However, the servitors said the agency should have taken the permission of the temple administration and the police before taking photos.

"In the recent past, a video of the aerial view of the temple went viral on various social networking sites creating a threat perception. Any agency engaged for such purpose must take permission from the temple administration and the police as well," said a temple servitor.