Mahant Narendra Giri, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, was found dead in his room at the Baghambari Math in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on Monday evening. The 72-year-old went to his room after lunch but did not respond when disciples knocked on the door or called him on his cell phone repeatedly later in the evening.
When his disciples broke the door open and entered the room, they found the spiritual personage hanging from the ceiling with a nylon rope. The UP Police are viewing it as a prima facie case of suicide.
Prayagraj Inspector General of Police (IG) KP Singh told the media that a handwritten suicide letter was recovered from the room in which Mahant Narendra Giri wrote his will and the names of some people who had been purportedly troubling him.
“I lived with dignity, will not be able to live with insult, this is why I am taking my own life,” the suicide letter read, according to IG KP Singh. In the 7-8 page long letter, the seer also wrote that he was upset for various reasons and thus decided to end his life.
Prayagraj Police say the name of Anant Giri, one of the seer’s most ardent disciples, as mentioned in the suicide note, among others.
Anand Giri has been detained from Haridwar with the help of Uttarakhand Police, said UP ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar. Kumar added that Anand Giri is being brought to Prayagraj by a team of 10 UP Police personnel.
Speaking to media on Monday evening, Anand Giri alleged, “This is a massive conspiracy; senior police officials and land mafia, even his family members are involved in this. Those are the people who were roaming around Guru Ji [Mahant Narendra Giri], asking him to sell properties owned by the Math.”
Asked about the contents of the suicide note recovered by police, Anand Giri said, “I spoke to him [Mahant Narendra Giri] and he told me he was fine and would come to Haridwar. He was in no way mentally disturbed. He was tortured and pressurized and forced to die and he could have been forced to write my name [in the suicide note] or someone else could have written it.”
Anand Giri urged the UP government to conduct a fair and impartial probe into the matter.
“If I am responsible, I should be punished. But action should be taken against whoever is responsible. Who is profiting from Math’s properties? In whose name were these properties sold? This is all a big conspiracy to end me and my Guruji,” Anand Giri said.
He added, “I spent 25 years with him. He is not the kind of person who would die by suicide. He was the person who oversaw four Kumbh Melas. He kept his views forward on all issues. He was tortured and the game is that of money and loot.”
Prime Minuster Narendra Modi expressed condolences and praised mahant for playing a key role in uniting the seers of various sects while remaining true to the spiritual traditions.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath tweeted that the tweeted that the demise of Mahant Narendra Giri was a huge l loss to the spiritual world and prayed that god gives strength to his disciples and followers to bear the loss.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, including several political leaders, arrived in Prayagraj to pay their last respects to the late Mahant Narendra Giri. Giri, the president of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP).
