Oppn parties demand immediate inventory of Lord Jagannath's

Hours after Law Minister Pratap Jena told the Assembly that the government has no plans to open Lord Jagannaths 'Ratna Bhandar', opposition parties and servitors on Tuesday demanded an immediate inventory of gold and silver ornaments stored in the temple treasury.

Earlier, the Law minister while replying to questions told the Assembly on Tuesday that the ornaments in the Ratna Bhandar were safe and the state has no such plans to open it now.

He said the Ratna Bhandar was last opened in July 14, 1985. As per the inventory made in 1987, about 12,838 bhari of gold and 18,815 bhari of silver was inside the Ratna Bhandar.

However, the opposition BJP and Congress demanded that the Ratna Bhandar should be immediately opened and inventory made to ensure that the ornaments were intact in the treasury.

"What is wrong in opening the Ratna Bhandar. The governments act of avoiding the inventory creates doubt in the public mind on the existence of the Lords ornaments. We should match the list made in 1978 by undertaking a fresh inventory," Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik told reporters outside the Assembly.

Naik, who ahead of the winter session of the Assembly wrote a letter to Chief Minister seeking his intervention into Ratna Bhandar issues, said: "The government should form a committee and make a fresh inventory of the gold and silver ornaments."
Congress lawmaker Suresh Chandra Routray, said: "I have a strong doubt that the Lords ornaments are not safe. They might have been looted. Therefore, I demand immediate opening of the Ratna Bhanfdar and its inventory."