Overview
- Pratik Mishra, 30, was taken into custody late Wednesday after posts threatened to bomb the Jagannath Temple and a shopping complex and to target MP Subhasish Khuntia, police said.
- Investigators said Mishra admitted creating a deceptive social-media account impersonating a woman who had rejected him in order to implicate her in a criminal case.
- Authorities labeled the online threat a hoax and increased checks for devotees entering the 12th-century shrine, according to Puri SP Prateek Singh.
- Security was further reinforced with Special Tactical Unit personnel and the Srimandir Surakshya Bahini deployed around the temple, local officials said.
- In a separate complaint, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration reported AI-generated images and videos of the deity shared from a profile named 'vishvrajcreation' and said legal measures are being updated to curb such abuses.