In its charge sheet filed in a court in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, the CBI has charged Giri, priest of Allahabad's Bade Hanuman Temple Addhya Tiwari and his son Sandeep Tiwari with criminal conspiracy and abetment to suicide.
The seer, who was the president of the largest organisation of sadhus in India, was found hanging by his disciples at the Baghambari Mutt in Allahabad on Monday.
The Uttar Pradesh Police had on Tuesday constituted an 18-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the death of the seer and detained a disciple of his in Haridwar.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said all aspects related to the death are being investigated and the guilty will not be spared.
Mahant Narendra Giri, the deceased president of Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad, was under such 'grave mental trauma' from his estranged disciple Anand Giri, priest Adhya Prasad Tiwari and his son Sandeep Tiwari that he ended his life to 'avoid defamation and insult' in the eyes of society, the Central Bureau of Investigation has said in its charge sheet.
According to Inspector General of Police K P Singh, Mahant Giri's body was found hanging from the ceiling by his disciples. A purported suicide note of seven-eight pages was also found at the site in which the seer had written that he was mentally disturbed and was ending his life.
Yadav had recently visited Haridwar where the Kumbh Mela is underway and met various religious leaders, including Akhara Parishad chairman Mahant Narendra Giri who had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier.
The Lakhimpur violence, in which the son of senior BJP leader and Union minister of state Ajay Mishra Teni are accused of trampling four protesting farmers to death, has opened another front for the CM to deal with, after the mysterious death of Akhara Parishad president Mahant Narendra Giri last month and the death of a Kanpur-based trader in Gorakhpur recently.
Nirvani Ani Akhada president Mahant Dharmdas said that only the mela officer or the chief minister has the right to announce the "end of the Kumbh Mela".
The spokesperson, however, was not forthcoming about since when Chinmayanand has ceased to be the member of the BJP.
Mahant Narendra Giri, the newly elected president of All India Akhara Parishad, met Hashim Ansari, the oldest surviving litigant in the Babri Masjid case.
The Enforcement Directorate had last week arrested Chhagan Bhujbal's associate and chartered accountant Sunil Naik in connection with the case.
What is particularly worrying is that the vast majority will not have access to testing or even to proper treatment. These cases could have been avoided if the government had shown the political will to do so, observes Rashme Sehgal.
The list includes names like Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, Rampal, Asaram and his son Narayan Sai.
Rizvi along with some Mahantas from Ayodhya will also approach the Supreme Court before December 5 with a solution to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
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