Srimandir Ratna Bhandar inspection panel chief Justice Biswanath Rath makes startling revelations

Puri Srimandir Ratna Bhandar Inspection Committee Chairman, Justice Biswanath Rath has made some startling revelations about the treasure trove during an exclusive interview with OTV on Thursday.

During OTV’s Khola Katha programme, Rath narrated his experience while entering Ratna Bhandar and said that the duplicate keys they took to open the treasure trove didn’t seem to be proper keys as the locks were of the British era while the keys seemed quite different.

“We were given facts about the duplicate keys. However, I was in doubt as I knew that only some persons at Buxi Bazaar in Cuttack prepared duplicate keys. Hence, I was sure that Ratna Bhandar would not open with these keys. We were prepared to enter the Ratna Bhandar by breaking the locks. The locks were very strong and the duplicate keys provided to us were not meant for those,” said Rath.

“There were three locks. However, after opening the seal, we only found two keys and those were not the right keys of those locks,” he added.

Rath was even dismayed to see the state of Ratna Bhandar as some chests and almirahs were not locked.

“After lighting the lamp, we didn’t find Ratna Bhandar in a proper state. We were surprised to find that some of the chests and almirahs were not locked. Some eminent persons including the then Governor and Chief Minister had entered Ratna Bhandar in 1978. I could not believe how some of the chests and almirahs were left unlocked,” said Rath.

“We have seen some really valuable ornaments inside Ratna Bhandar. Many precious ornaments were inside the iron chest. A list was earlier prepared about the ornaments, but doubt still persists whether the list was prepared in 1978 or 2018,” he added.