Police Official Takes Photos Inside Jagannath Temple, Suspended

The Puri district police on Monday placed a sub-inspector (SI) of police under suspension on charge of posting pictures, taken inside the Jagannath temple, on Facebook, police said.

The Superintendent of Police (SP) of Puri district, Sarthak Sarangi took action barely some hours after photos, taken by a police official inside the temple, went viral on social media, the police said.

The erring official, Dilip Panda, was posted at the Sea Beach Police Station in Puri.

He had performed 'Mahalaya Shraddha' (a ritual) on 'Baisi Pahacha'(22 steps), inside the 12th century shrine, on Monday morning, a police officer said.

He took pictures of different places inside the temple when he was at the temple to perform the rituals and posted them on his Facebook account, the officer added.

The policeman had taken his mobile phone inside the temple though there is a ban on carrying mobiles inside the temple premises, he said.

The policeman later deleted the pictures from his Facebook account as some news channels reported the incident, he added.