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Advani denies makeshift temple at Ayodhya was altered

The government asserted on Wednesday that the makeshift structure at the disputed site in Ayodhya had not been altered by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad as alleged by opposition parties and said security had been tightened after the October 17 incident in which VHP activists stormed the shrine.

"No addition, alteration or damage to the structure was carried out by these persons," Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani told the Rajya Sabha in a calling attention statement. The state government, he added, had been directed to fix responsibility for the incident and punish the guilty.

Advani said the government was of the view that the Ayodhya problem could be solved either through mutual consensus among all the parties concerned or on the basis of adjudication by the courts.

Quoting reports from the Uttar Pradesh government, he said two senior officials, a magistrate and a deputy superintendent of police, in charge at the time of the incident, had been placed under suspension.

The Central Reserve Police Force has also replaced the company on duty with another company, transferred the deputy commandant and an inspector of the unit responsible for the incident, and initiated departmental action against the officials concerned.

Prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code have also been promulgated to strengthen security arrangements and steps have been taken to regulate darshan by forming small batches of 15-20 devotees to avoid crowding near the makeshift temple, he said.

"All the vacancies of magistrates, police officers and other ranks have been filled so that duty officers are available as per the security scheme round the clock to take care of any eventuality," he said.

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