Vikash Sharma

Puri: Police were caught off guard after five turban-clad Punjabi youths were spotted atop Mangu Mutt on Thursday. According to reports, the youths from Punjab had arrived in Puri after they came across some video message regarding the demolition of Mangu Mutt for the Shree Jagannath Heritage Corridor project.

The incident created a flutter as several leaders from Punjab had recently staged a demonstration in Bhubaneswar opposing the demolition of Mangu Mutt in Puri.

After some local residents spotted the Punjabi youths atop Mangu Mutt, they alerted police as the region now comes under the high-security zone under the Puri Heritage corridor.

However, the youths claimed that they had come to Puri after getting a message and later they re-installed a religious insignia which had fallen off.

“After seeing a video, we had come here and today we installed our religious symbol atop the Mangu Mutt,” said Santosh Singh, a member of the group from Punjab.

Following the incident, senior officials of Puri district administration and Police reached the spot and held discussions with the youths from Punjab.

All of them were escorted from the spot and taken to nearest police station for interrogation.

Earlier on December 24, two MLAs from Punjab along with some Sikh activists had staged a demonstration in Bhubaneswar protesting the demolition of some portion of Mangu Mutt in Puri.

The leaders claimed that as the religious place was visited by Guru Nanak, adequate steps should be taken for its preservation.

Later, the MLAs from Punjab held discussions with senior officials of Odisha government and informed that they were satisfied with the State government’s decision and ongoing beautification project near Puri Srimandir.

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