Prayagraj: After the death of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP) president Mahant Narendra Giri, his disciple Anand Giri has been removed as president of the Yuva Bharat Sadhu Samaj after his name appeared on the purported suicide note of the deceased seer.
The disciple said that since Anand Giri was promoting the Indian culture both inside the country and abroad he had been conferred the title by the Bharat Sadhu Samaj. "But after Anand Giri's name appeared in the suicide note of Mahant Narendra Giri, today the saints of India, we decided to remove him as the organisation's international president," he said.
Lokeshdas Maharaj, a member of the Yuva Bharat Sadhu Samaj said that the decision to remove Anand Giri was taken after a meeting of the Yuva Bharat Sadhu Samaj.
"Looking at the current state of affairs, we had to take this decision of removing Anand Giri, We can't say who has written the letter, was it written by Narendra Giri? We can't really comment on that. After the result of the investigation, we will automatically know the reason why Anand Giri's name was written in the letter," Maharaj said.
Probe in death
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP) president Mahant Narendra Giri's death.
The Niranjani Akhara, of which Mahant Narendra Giri was the chief, has rejected the suicide note of the deceased saint after terming it as fake.
Acharya Maha Mandaleshwar of Shri Panchayati Akhara Niranjani, Acharya Kailashanand Giri said that "It is not a suicide note but a conspiracy note."
Kailashanand Giri dismissed the purported suicide note allegedly written by Mahant Narendra Giri and said, "This is not a letter written by Mahant Narendra Giri as he never used to pen anything so elaborate... he only used to put his signature while dictating the content of the letter to someone else. I have closely read the letter many times and it contains some words that seem to have been written by someone else having a good command over the Hindi language. Also, a particular character is used with some words in the letter which Maharaj did not even know how and when to use."
He said that there were several loopholes in the theory of suicide. "Why did the Mahant (Narendra Giri) not take the extreme step in his own room and why did he choose a room that he rarely frequented? Why was the door of the room where the body was found, forcefully opened? Why no one video-graphed the entire process of breaking the door and bringing the body down?" he asked.
Meanwhile, the mortal remains of ABAP president Mahant Narendra Giri were taken to Swaroop Rani Medical College in Prayagraj for a post-mortem on Wednesday.
The case so far
Mahant Giri was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his Baghambari Math located residence in Prayagraj on Monday. A purported suicide note was recovered from the site of the incident in which the name of the seer's disciples, Anand Giri, and two others were mentioned.
On Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh Police had lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against Anand Giri under IPC Section 306 (Abetment of suicide) in connection with Mahant Giri's death.
Meanwhile, a dispute seems to be brewing over the anointment of Mahant Balbir Giri as the new chairman of the Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad.
Mahant Balbir Giri, who has been named as Narendra Giri's successor in the suicide note, has also retracted his earlier claim that the handwriting on the alleged suicide note is that of the late Mahant. "It is not his handwriting," he told reporters.
BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj has also debunked the suicide theory and said that the alleged suicide note was fake.
