ASI official asked to explain pictures with car inside the Taj Mahal

After a group of women were made to apologise for performing yoga on a red sandstone platform at Taj Mahal, pictures of an official of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) clicking photos with a car inside the centrally protected monument, Mehtab Bagh, with the Taj in the background, have surfaced on social media.

Taking cognisance of the pictures, superintending archaeologist for ASI (Agra Circle), Raj Kumar Patel, has sought an explanation from the horticulture assistant Jaisal Singh over the violation of norms.

ASI officials, however, claimed that the picture circulated online was six months old.

Ahead of the International Day of Yoga on June 21, Union Minister ofSstate Meenakshi Lekhi had participated in a yoga session at Mehtab Bagh on June 2.

The picture was clicked by the officer on the same day said sources, adding that he took his private car inside the monument to supply items required for the event.

As per the norms, no private vehicle is usually allowed to go beyond the Mehtab Bagh police outpost.

There is a dedicated space for parking of the vehicles.