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Two Muslim youths detained at Puri temple

PURI: Two Muslim youths were detained on Wednesday after they entered the 12th century Jagannath temple here. The temple is out of bounds to non-Hindus.

Three Indonesian Hindus, including two women, were also detained.

They were suspected to be non-Hindus, but were later released after ascertaining their religious identity.

The Indonesians were spotted during ‘mangala aarti,’ a ritual performed daily when the temple doors open. The priests said they were accompanied by Mahabahu Das, a local devotee of ISKCON.

The foreigners, however, were found to be Hindus after they produced their passports and visas and were later released, police inspector in-charge of the temple, Gyana Ranjan Mohapatra, said.

A few hours later the priests accosted two teenagers and handed them over to the police.

Mr. Mohapatra said both of them were Muslims from a village in Sundargarh district. They had been identified as Aftab Alam (19) and Mohammed Wasim Asghar (18).

“They were detained and are being questioned,” he said. — PTI

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