Guwahati, Jan. 30: Barring the “flap-flap” of black flags fluttering in the breeze and the cooing of pigeons, Kamakhya temple was an unusually quiet place today.

The uneasy calm captured the mood of a holy place whose sanctity was violated yesterday by BSF personnel who beat up devotees waiting for darshan.

At least 14 people, including priests, were wounded when the jawans assaulted anybody they could lay their hands on after being denied entry into the sanctum sanctorum ahead of those who had queued up much earlier.

Nabakanta Sarma, secretary of the Kamakhya Debutter Board, said the shock of witnessing violence at one of the most visited pilgrim spots in the country was too much to go away in one day.

“The flow of devotees was much the same today, but a little bit of insecurity was there on almost every visitor’s face. Everyone wanted to know what went wrong on Sunday morning. We told them to just pray that no such incident takes place in future.”

Krishna Bahadur Chetri, the police sentry at the entrance to the shrine, said it would take some time for a semblance of normality to return to the temple.

The sense of disgust at the BSF personnel’s conduct ? the 19 personnel arrested after the incident got bail today ? was reflected in the black flags that dotted the hill on which the ancient shrine stands. Priests and others associated with the temple wore black badges, too.

A team led by the deputy inspector-general of the BSF’s Patgaon-based 126 Battalion visited Kamakhya to calm frayed nerves.

DIG Hemant Desai personally recorded the statements of the priests and witnesses to the mayhem before assuring the temple management of prompt action against the guilty jawans, who are all attached to the 126 Battalion.

The 19 BSF jawans have been charged under Sections 147, 148, 149, 353 and 325 of the IPC.

BSF inspector-general S.C. Srivastav, who is in charge of the border force in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland, said the inquiry would be completed in 10-12 days.

Sarma said an executive meeting of the Debutter Board would be convened soon to find ways to prevent such incidents from recurring. But he said there would be no restrictions on visits the shrine, which attracts Hindus from across the world.