Yielding to pressure, Uttarakhand government on Wednesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the death of Swami Nigamanand, who had been on fast for about four months protesting illegal quarrying and mining in the state, amid allegations that he was poisoned.
Amid allegations that Swami Nigamanand was poisoned, authorities on Thursday took fresh sample for a second viscera test of the seer who died after a four-month fast against quarrying in Ganga river bed. A panel of doctors took a second viscera sample of Nigamanand at Matri Sadan ashram where his body was kept following a direction by Haridwar District Magistrate R Meenakshisundaram. The founder head of the ashram and his guru Swami Shivanand had given a written request.
Dismissing the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department inquiry into the death of Swami Nigamanand as ordered by the Uttarakhand government, the Congress on Wednesday demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case. "The Ramesh Pokhriyal government is responsible for the death of Swami Nigamanand as it failed not only to check illegal quarrying in the Kumbh area at Haridwar but also failed to provide proper medical care to him," said a BJP leader.
An aide of Swami Nigamananda, who died during a fast against quarrying in Ganga riverbed, is sitting on a dharna in Haridwar demanding that the Central Bureau of Investigation probe the role of the seer's guru Shivanand.
The Ganga agitation and the question of preserving the Himalayan ecology has become a deadly cocktail of politics and religion. Behind the scene, of course, at play are powerful business interests. What is needed is an independent scientific assessment of the problem and preparation of a blueprint for preservation of the Himalayan rivers and associated ecology, says Dinesh C Sharma.
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