State Official Held 'Hostage' By Angry Priests, Locals At Kedarnath Dham

Angry priests held a senior civil servant - Arvind Pandey, the Secretary of the State Information Commission - hostage for two-and-a-half hours in Uttarakhand's temple town of Kedarnath, amid protests over the demolition of buildings and roadside shops owned and operated by priests.

Mr Pandey was reportedly locked into a room at a committee member's home.

There is anger over what "mismanagement" of the Kedarnath Dham Yatra route and facilities for 2024, including for VIP visits and prayers, which they say has caused inconvenience to locals.

In addition to demands like removing barricades from routes commonly used by non-VIP pilgrims - these were removed after lengthy talks with locals - the protestors have also alleged that houses and shops owned by over a dozen priests and traders were demolished without their consent.

Some of these were torn down to build drains by the side of the road to the temple.

When these demolitions were taking place Mr Pandey was an Additional Secretary in the state government. When he visited protest sites this morning, he was surrounded by angry priests.

A situation that started with jostling and shoving, and shouting of slogans, quickly escalated.

Mr Pandey was urged to show a letter from the government authorising the demolitions.

On being told what was happening, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Ukhimath, which is about 50 km from Kedarnath, rushed to the spot and calmed the angry priests and traders.