Puri: A senior servitor was critically injured as a clash broke out between two groups of servitors over the distribution of paduka (a type of offering) at the Puri Jagannath Temple on Monday.
The incident occurred near Beherana Dwara the Mukti Mandap. The injured servitor is Bishwanath Khuntia.
According to reports, Khuntia was attacked by another group of servitors while he was distributing paduka to devotees by some fellow servitors. Upon being informed, Singhadwar police rescued the injured servitor and rushed him to the hospital.
It is learnt that the servitors who attacked Khuntia are related to each other. Therefore, it is speculated that the clash might have occurred due to a family dispute.
Based on a complaint, police detained 5-6 servitors for questioning and are investigating the cause of the clash. Although the exact reason behind the attack is still unknown, it is suspected that a family dispute led to the violence.
