No policeman should enter Puri Jagannath temple with weapons and shoes: SC

On October 3, 2018, protesters set fire to tyres at several places on the Grand Road in front of the Shree Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha. File

The Supreme Court on Wednesday took note of the October 3 violence at Puri’s Jagannath temple during a protest against the introduction of a queue system for devotees and said no policeman should enter the temple with weapons and shoes.

Nine policemen were injured as violence broke out during a 12-hour bandh called by a socio-cultural organisation, protesting introduction of a queue system for devotees visiting the Jagannath Temple.

The queue system was introduced on an experimental basis and a review would be done as locals and servitors opposed it, a temple official had said.