Odisha: Police inspector suspended for touching Devi Subhadra idol

Odisha Police on Saturday suspended an inspector rank officer on charge of touching the idol of Devi Subhadra, one of the three deities of Sri Jagannath temple during

Odisha Police on Saturday suspended an inspector rank officer on charge of touching the idol of Devi Subhadra, one of the three deities of Sri Jagannath temple during a ritual in Puri last week.

This photo taken on June 25, 2017 shows devotees by huge chariots representing Lord Jagannath, Brother Balabhadra and Devi Subhadras in front of the Shree Jagannath temple to celebrate the Rath Yatra festival in Puri. (AFP Photo)

DGP KB Singh ordered suspension of police inspector Amulya Kumar Dhar on charge of violating the Orissa high court order on touching the deities of Sri Jagannath Temple during the Rath Yatra festival.

The court had banned touching of deities and climbing on chariots by devotees or any other person not associated with rituals of the temple. Devotees were allowed to have ‘darshan’ of the deities from a distance.

The police personnel were deployed accordingly to conduct the festival in a smooth manner.

Dhar, an inspector at Boudh police station, was deployed in crowd management during the Rath Yatra festival.

But Dhar allegedly touched Devi Subhdra’s idol during Niladri Vije ritual where the deities were taken back to the main temple after the Rath Jatra.

While asking the Puri SP to frame charges against Dhar, the DGP said he took action against the inspector basing on the ground report of the local police.