Mumbai, June 18
Acting on the advise of an Israeli security agency, the trustees of the Siddhivinayak temple here have banned devotees from offering coconuts, garlands and bouquets to the deity.
The trustees, the richest in Maharashtra, hired the services of an Israeli agency last year to help beef up the security apparatus in the wake of serial blasts in Mumbai trains. The agency advised the trustees that terrorists infiltrating the ranks of pilgrims might bring in explosives fitted in coconuts and garlands to carry out a terror strike.
The Mumbai police has already asked the temple authorities to beef up security earlier this month. “We have decided not to accept big garlands and coconuts with immediate effect,” chief executive of the temple Hanumant Jagtap said. He added that the shrine had been on terrorists’ hit list since a large number of people, including celebrities, visit it.
The trust has erected a crash-proof barrier around the temple, which would prevent even a car rigged with explosives from crashing through.
