The Supreme Court on Wednesday prohibited police personnel from entering the Jagannath Temple in Odisha carrying arms or wearing shoes, PTI reported. The top court made this statement while taking note of violence that had occurred on October 3 during protests against a queue system for visiting pilgrims at the temple in Puri district.

The Odisha government told the bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that 47 people were arrested in connection with the violence. On October 7, five policemen were suspended for dereliction of duty.

On October 3, members of a socio-cultural outfit called the Shree Jagannath Sena called a 12-hour shutdown and staged violent protests against the queue system introduced at Jagannath temple. Shree Jagannath Sena’s convenor Priyadarshan Patnaik claimed that the manner in which the new system was introduced had hurt the sentiments of a large number of devotees.

The protestors burned tyres, blocked a road leading up to the temple, and hurled stones at the residence of the superintendent of police. Nine policemen were injured in the protests.

The organisation’s counsel claimed that police personnel entered the sacred space with guns and boots during the incident.

However, the Odisha government told the court that the violence had occurred inside the Jagannath temple administration office and not inside the main temple, PTI reported. The office is 500 metres away from the temple.

A temple official had said that the queue system was introduced on an experimental basis, PTI reported.