Puri: A police complaint has been lodged against Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra, Secretary of the Daitapati Nijog at Puri’s Shree Jagannath Temple, accusing him of illegally transporting surplus sacred Neem wood from the 2015 Nabakalebara rituals to West Bengal.
The online complaint, filed by rights activist Jayanta Kumar Das at Singhadwar Police Station, alleges that Dasmohapatra and an accomplice committed criminal breach of trust and misappropriated religious property.
Das claimed that Dasmohapatra, who also serves as the State General Secretary of the Biju Janata Dal, supplied the sacred wood to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for crafting deities at a newly built Jagannath Temple in Digha without the approval of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).
The activist argued that this act violated the religious sentiments of Jagannath devotees and contravened Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which protects the freedom of religion.
Reports indicate that Dasmohapatra and other Puri servitors attended the recent inauguration of the Digha Jagannath Temple, further fueling the controversy.
