The president of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP), Mahant Narendra Giri, was found dead under mysterious circumstances at Shri Baghambari Math Gaddi, located in residence in Prayagraj, on Monday. His body was found hanging from the ceiling when police claimed to have recovered a suicide note inside the room.
According to the police, Narendra Giri was 62 and has accused one of his protege and aide Anand Giri of ‘mental torture’ in his suicide note. Narendra Giri’s students found his body on Monday afternoon, and he missed his formal public meeting when his students broke in after seeing the door bolted from inside.
According to some reports, some of Giri’s disciples alerted the police around 5 pm on Monday about the incident; senior police officials rushed to the spot.
CM Yogi on Mahant’s death
Taking a serious note of the incident, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Aditynanath has sought a detailed report from the state home and police top brass about the incident.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath paid last prayers to the Mahant on Tuesday (September 21) at his Baghambari Math residence. “The postmortem will be done tomorrow.” the Chief Minister said to the reporters, adding, “The culprit will not be spared.”
He told the reporters, “A team of senior police officials including ADG Zone, IG Range, DIG Prayagraj is investigating the case.” While also informing the status of the case, “Several pieces of evidence have been collected regarding the incident the death of Mahant Narendra Giri.”
Anand Giri, arrested for abetting the death of the Mahant
An FIR against Mahant Narendra Giri’s disciple, Anand Giri, under section 306 of IPC (Abetment of suicide) has got registered.
Anand Giri’s name has also surfaced in the suicide note of the ABAP Mahant, according to Prashant Kumar, Additional Director General (Law and Order) of Uttar Pradesh. He further said that the probe was underway, and Anand Giri got taken into police custody.
“It is a big conspiracy by people who used to extort money from Guruji,” said the alleged Anand Giri accusing the conspirators of writing his name in the Mahant’s suicide note. However, he said, His handwriting needs to be probed.” as he claimed, “guruji” has not written a letter in his entire life, and he said that his seer Mahant Narendra Giri “could not commit suicide.”
Further, he also appealed, “I have spent my entire life over there and never took any money.” The Mahant earlier expelled Anand Giri over averments of fraud and financial mismanagement. However, a video was released a few days later showing an apparent patch-up where Anand Giri is seeking forgiveness at the feet of his mentor.
Anand Giri was caught by the police last evening in Uttarakhand after that; he claimed, “Everything was good between Guru Ji and me. Hence I request the government to investigate the matter thoroughly.”
The police suspect his short-lived patch-up and have accused him of harassing the seer. At the same time, the two other disciples who stayed with Narendra Giri who have got detained for questioning are Sandeep Tiwari and Aadya Tiwari.
Politicians are paying their last tribute.
Narendra Giri was the chief of ABAP, which is currently the apex decision-making body of India’s 13 recognised Hindu monastic orders.
Giri being an influential seer, was frequently seen with top politicians of the country. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, along with politicians like Mayawati, condole the death of the Mahant. PM Narendra Modi was among the leaders who expressed grief at his demise.
“The death of Akhara Parishad president Shri Narendra Giri Ji is unfortunate. While devoted to spiritual traditions, he played a big role in connecting many streams of Sant Samaj. May the Lord give him a place at your feet. Om Shanti,” PM Modi tweeted.
