British national detained for entering Puri temple, assaulting cops

Odisha Police detained a British national for entering the Jagannath Temple in Puri and assaulting cops deployed inside the shrine, an officer said on Sunday.

According to the police, the foreign tourist, identified as Thomas Craig Sheldon from Wandsworth in south London, had unauthorisedly entered the 12th-century shrine on Saturday.

When the police personnel stopped him and asked him to leave the temple premises as non-Hindus are not allowed entry into the temple, Thomas allegedly assaulted the cops, they said.

"We have detained the foreign tourist and further investigation is going on," said Prasant Kumar Sahu, City DSP, Puri.

The incident occurred just a week after a woman from Poland was detained and later released for entering the temple on March 23. Prior to that, a few Bangladeshi nationals had been caught while entering the temple on March 3 and later released.