By IANS
Kendrapada (Orissa) : Police and animal right activists prevented the killing in Orissa of over 100 animals in the name of religion, officials said Saturday.
The residents of Srirampur village, some 125 kilometres from Orissa capital Bhubaneswar had brought about 120 goats and lambs Friday for sacrificing at the altar of the 400-year old Sri Ramachandi temple.
Every year, villagers sacrifice hundreds of animals at the temple to appease the Ramachandi deity, hoping it will bring them good fortune.
The animals are sacrificed on the second day of three-day Raja Sankranti festival that begins on the first day of the Hindu month of Ashadha.
Villagers celebrate this festival across the state to mark the beginning of the rainy season and the new agricultural year.
"The villagers had already lined up the goats and lambs near the temple for slaughter on Friday," K.C. Mallick, a police official, told IANS.
"Twenty policemen accompanied by tahasildar Kailash Chandra Nayak and animal activist Bijoya Kabi reached the temple and prevented the devotees from sacrificing the animals for the first time in decades despite local opposition," he said.
The police also detained Chaitnya Rana, who slaughters the animals, and a priest of the temple under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Indian Penal Code.
"They were released after giving an undertaking that they will not sacrifice any animal in the temple," said Mallick.