India, May 12 -- The Odisha Police have launched an investigation into a hostile and offensive social media post about Lord Jagannath, allegedly made from a Pakistani account on 'X' (formerly Twitter).

The action comes after renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik lodged a formal complaint against a user identified as Shahbaz Ashraf (@Shahbaz_56), whose profile is suspected to be based in Pakistan.

According to police sources, on May 9, Sudarsan shared a video of the 'Patitapaban Aarti', an early morning ritual performed at the entrance of the Jagannath Temple in Puri. The next day, Shahbaz responded to the post with two highly objectionable and disrespectful comments that were deemed hateful and provocative by authorities.

Police said ...