A dedicated special security battalion will be created to provide full-proof security to the 12th-century Puri Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday approved the proposal for the creation of the special security battalion.

The battalion will provide full-proof security to the shrine and deal with crowd management and devotee facilitation.

“The new battalion would have the primary responsibility of providing full-proof security to the temple and they will be specially trained for better crowd management and tourist and devotee facilitation for ensuring a hassle-free and orderly darshan by the devotees. The Special Security Battalion would have around 1,190 personnel, and it would be placed under the command and control of the Superintendent of Police, Puri,” said a media release issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

The release said: “In the post-covid period, the daily footfall of devotees was estimated to be about fifty thousand, whereas it doubles and triples during the weekends and on important religious occasions. The anticipated flow of devotees is likely to witness a substantial increase after the dedication of the new Heritage Corridor Project — Srimandir Parikrama Prakalp to the public.”

The new heritage corridor project is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 17. At present, nearly 70 personnel belonging to the Jagannath Temple Police (JTP) are engaged in providing security inside the temple. “The security outside the temple is managed by Odisha police but there has been no dedicated police force to look after the security of the temple. Now with this a dedicated police force specialised in crowd control and on the affairs of the security of the shrine would be engaged,” said a police officer.

2 hurt in clash

Bhubaneswar: Two persons were injured in a clash between two groups here, a police officer said on Monday.

The police arrested eight persons involved in the clash that took place in Bhubaneswar city on Sunday evening, the officer said.

Briefing media persons about the case, zone-II ACP Girija Shankar Chakrabarty said two youths named Rakesh Kumar Guru and Siba Maharana threatened an elderly person, Pradeep Singh, for giving his place on rent to a youth for a garage. Singh owns a small market complex in the airport area of Bhubaneswar.