BHUBANESWAR: The alertness of Odisha Police at the heavily-fortified Jagannath Temple in Puri came under scanner after a tourist from Argentina on Monday entered the shrine, which is off limits to non-Hindus. Though his entry did not cause any security threat, police drew flak for failing to stop him at the entrance."We are trying to find out how the foreigner entered the temple. CCTV footages are being examined. I have already instructed the security personnel to remain alert," SP (Puri) Sarthak Sarangi said. Over 100 security personnel stand guard in and around the temple everyday. Jagannath Temple is among the high risk category shrines in the country.Temple sources said 30-year-old Dario Salvador Visciglia , wearing a dhoti and T-shirt entered the temple around 4.30 pm and moved inside for over 30 minutes before a priest spotted him and informed police. "I was shocked to spot the foreigner in Ananda Bazaar where he bought Mahaprasad. Shockingly, the police did not stop him when he entered the temple. It exposed the alertness of our police," said Shyamsundar Mahapatra, a priest.Apprehending tension, the police whisked him away to nearby Singhadwar police station for verification of his passport. His wife, who was in a hotel in Puri, rushed to the police station and identified themselves as devotees of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon). He was let off after verification of the travel documents as a non-Hindus entry into Jagannath temple is not a punishable offence under the Indian Penal Code.During questioning, he told us that he was unaware of the temple's restriction on the entry of non-Hindus.He also claimed that a priest helped him enter the temple. Since he looked like an Indian from his getup, police perhaps failed to spot him, another police officer said. Police said the couple, who had been staying in an ashram in Puri since last four days, possessed valid travel documents. The couple belonged to Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires (CABA) in Argentina.On February 26, a 35-year-old German tourist created flutter by barging into the temple and assaulting a priest for stopping him.Apparently ignorant of the temple rules, a number of foreigners gained entry into the shrine in the past. On December 28, 2010, an American woman was humiliated and thrown out of the shrine by a group of priests.

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