The CBI has formed a six-member team to probe the death of Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad president Mahant Narendra Giri, who was found hanging by his disciples at Baghambari Muth in Allahabad on Monday. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had called for a CBI probe into the seer’s death, which continues to be surrounded by theories and controversies.
The Uttar Pradesh Police had on Tuesday constituted an 18-member SIT to probe the death of the seer, which detained two of his disciples, Anand Giri and Aadhya Prasad Tiwari ion Wednesday. They have been sent to 14-day judicial custody.
A purported 7-8 page suicide note was found, in which the seer wrote that Anand Giri was trying to blackmail him using a morphed picture of a woman. The seer purportedly wrote that he would rather die with dignity than face this false accusation.
An autopsy of Mahant Narendra Giri was done on Wednesday and the report was handed over to the senior police officials. The police view the death as a prima facie case of suicide.
In the purported suicide note, the deceased seer held his disciple Anand Giri and two other priests responsible for his death. The police said that the hand-written letter has been sent for forensic examination.
The two other priests named in the note, Adha Prasad Tiwari and his son Sandeep Tiwari, are from Prayagraj. They have not been named in the FIR, filed on the complaint of another disciple, Amar Giri Pawan Maharaj. According to the complaint, the head of the ABAP – considered the largest grouping of sadhus in the country – was disturbed for the last few months because of Anand Giri and had said several times that he was unhappy because of him.
For the past few months, Narendra Giri had been involved in a public tussle with Anand Giri, with both sides accusing each other of, among other things, misappropriation of funds. The mahant is said to have got Anand Giri expelled from Niranjani akhara following allegations that he went against the traditions of the akhara by keeping in touch with his family.