Puri: A deep trench has been found during the eviction drive carried out by the Puri district administration adjacent to the Meghnad Pacheri (shrine wall) of the Puri Srimandir. After demolition of a two-storey building of Ramdaya Parishad, the trench looking like a secret passage was discovered on Wednesday.
Rumours of a secret passage soon started making rounds but the secretary of the Ramdaya Parishad Mahanta Maharaj denied the talks of existence of any such tunnel. He said that during the demolition of the building a hundred-year-old banyan tree was uprooted, resulting in the deep trench.
The media is presenting wrong information by terming the trench as a ‘secret tunnel’, he added.
Expressing similar views, Multi Tasking Officer of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Prafulla Sethi said the deep hole has developed after the tree and its roots were pulled out.
Puri Sub Collector Bhabataran Sahu has also rubbished the talks of a secret passage adjacent to the shrine wall.