BHUBANESHWAR: Police detained a 30-year-old British citizen for allegedly assaulting some on-duty cops inside
Lord Jagannath temple
in Puri on Saturday, after they asked him to leave the shrine that is off limits for non-Hindus.
Puri SP Pinak Mishra said a case had been registered against the man, identified as
Thomas Craig Sheldon
from Wandsworth in south London.
He was being questioned and the circumstances leading to the incident were being investigated, Mishra told TOI.
The incident came a week after a woman from Poland was detained for entering the 12th century shrine on March 23.
According to eyewitnesses, Sheldon entered the temple by covering his face partially and mingling with hundreds of devotees. Some policemen spotted him hurling abuses at visitors and tried to take him outside. "He was rude and got into a scuffle with police. Sheldon and one of the cops sustained minor injuries," said Dama Mahapatra, a servitor.
Hours earlier, Sheldon war briefly detained at Sea Beach police station for creating nuisance near the sea shore and Swargadwar crematorium.
English (US) ·