Puri Jagannath Temple servitors manhandle woman scribe, complaint filed

Puri: Some servitors of Puri's iconic Jagannath Temple allegedly abused and manhandled some journalists, including a female reporter, in front of the Singhadwar (main entrance) here on Sunday.

As per reports, the incident occurred while the scribes, including electronic media, were covering the situation of the devotees at the Singhadwar.

The female scribe, Linu Naik, filed a complaint with the Singhadwar police station.

Police registered a criminal case, and an investigation is on. Puri Superintendent of Police Veenit Kumar, assured the journalists of an impartial investigation into the case.

Sources said the electronic media recently covered an incident where some servitors were shown facilitating darshan by taking money. This became viral on social media. The servitors concerned with the incident were aggrieved and possibly retaliated against the scribes, sources said.

The media personnel have also presented the footage of the incident to the police, the source added.

Ironically, the incident happened after a two-day training of servitors organised by the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration to show good manners to the visitors and devotees.