The government could not dare to remove SJTA Chief Administrator Suresh Mohapatra, but clipped his wings with the appointment of an OSD. Soumendra Priyadarshi has long experience in managing Rath Yatra festivals in Puri and the government believes that he would do a great job to bail them out of a precarious situation.
“We will make hard efforts to ensure smooth conduct of Rath Yatra and Nabakalebara. There won’t be any scope for any error and the festival will be a huge success,” said Soumendra Priyadarshi. He will continue till the Nabakalebara festival is over.
Mr. Soumendra Priyadarshi was the Superintendent of Police of Puri for five years before serving as the Additional SP in the same town. SJTA Chief Administrator Suresh Mohapatra has been directed not to step out of Puri till the end of the festival. Another senior IAS officer has been asked to look after his duty as the Energy Secretary for a month.
The Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has also requested the Crime Branch to probe the source of the pictures of fake ‘Brahma’ that are doing the round in social media.