Bizodisha Bureau, June 24, 2015 : Odisha government finally has acted tough on Daitapatis by suspending two of them s – the father-son duo of Kashinath Das Mohapatra and Jayakrushna Das Mohapatra – for the chaos inside the temple leading to an inordinate delay in the Brahma Parivartan ritual of the deities inside the Jagannath temple here on June 15.

Coming under severe criticism for its inept handling of affairs of Lord Jagannath, Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) seems to have acted. “Jayakrushna Das Mohapatra and his father Kashinath Das Mohapatra have been suspended from Daita Seva for an indefinite period under section 21 (B) of the Shree Jagannath Temple Act, 1954,” SJTA chief administrator Suresh Mohapatra announced on Wednesday evening.

Kashinath Das Mohapatra, it may be noted, is the elder brother of Ramakrushna Das Mohapatra, the president of the Daitapati Nijog.

Jayakrushna has baeen accused of taking his father inside leading to the delay in the all-important ritual, the chief administrator said.

“As you know, we have been hearing from senior Daitapatis about what exactly transpired during the Brahma Parivartan. Yesterday, we heard five senior Daiatapatis, including the president and secretary of the Daitapati Nijog and the Pati Mmohapatra. On Monday, the four badagrahis had given their versions of the events. Based on the depositions of these nine, we came to the conclusion that these two were mainly responsible for the delay,” he said.

“When the four badagrahis were about to enter the Anasara Pindi for the Brahma Parivartan, Jayakrushna suddenly insisted that his father also be allowed to go in. When the four badagrahis refused, there was a heated argument leading to the delay,” Mohapatra said.

It was Haladhar Das Mohapatra, the dalapati (leader) of the Banajaga Yatra team and badagrahi of Lord Balabhadra who had first spilled the beans about Jayakrushna Das Mohapatra’s shenanigans leading to the inordinate delay in the Brahma Parivartan soon after coming out of the temple on June 16 evening.