Congress demands CBI probe under court's supervision into Mahant Narendra Giri's death

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 22 : Condoling the death of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP) President Mahant Narendra Giri whose body was found under mysterious circumstances in Prayagraj, Congress has demanded an investigation into the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the supervision of the Supreme Court or the Division Bench of the High Court.
In the press conference held at the state headquarters here on Tuesday, Congress Working Committee member and former Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari and State Congress President Ajay Kumar Lallu jointly expressed their anger over the incident and alleged that 21 saints have been killed or died under suspicious circumstances under the regime of the Yogi Adityanath.
The Congress leaders said, "To date, 21 saints have been killed or died under suspicious circumstances under the rule of a chief minister who calls himself a Yogi. Under Yogi Adityanath's rule, Uttar Pradesh has become a state of murder and heinous crimes. NCRB data confirms this."
Tiwari said that the death of Mahant Narendra Giri under suspicious circumstances is sad not only for the Sant Samaj but also for the country. The "offence of suppressing the facts" of the incident will not be accepted at any cost, said Tiwari.
He further asked, "Why, how and under whose pressure the police termed it a suicide without the post-mortem report? Congress is concerned that no other sadhu or sanyasis should be killed. A video going viral should also be made a part of the investigation. What conversation took place between Mahant ji and the Deputy Chief Minister, who met him a day before the incident? This should also be a matter of investigation. Even if he committed suicide, what compelled him to take such a drastic step?"
"This should also be found out that who all had an eye on the property of the Math worth thousands of crores. Only if the matter is investigated by the CBI investigates the case under the supervision of the Supreme Court or the Division Bench of the High Court, only then will the truth come to the fore," stated Tiwari.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Ajay Kumar Lallu alleged that "Yogi Raj has become Dushasan Raj", adding that no one is safe in the Yogi Adityanath-led state.
He further said, "There are speculations that Mahant ji was unable to sign, then who wrote the 7-page suicide note? Who conspired at the highest level to grab the property of the math? If the suicide note itself is to be taken as true, then three persons are named in it, but only one person was named in the FIR."
The Uttar Pradesh Congress chief alleged that without carrying out a post-mortem or a forensic examination, the local administration declared the death of Mahant Narendra Giri as suicide.
"The State Congress President said that just as the Yogi government tried many tricks to discredit the Hathras rape incident as false, in the same way, the Yogi government is portraying this incident as a suicide. It seems that there is an attempt to hide something in this because the room from where the dead body of Mahant ji was taken out was neither his bedroom nor sitting room. How did the people present in the Math know that Mahant ji was in that room and why were they in a haste to break the doors and remove his body without informing the police? The local administration also immediately declared it a suicide, though neither post-mortem nor forensic examination has been conducted," Lallu added.
Meanwhile, the mortal remains of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP) President Mahant Narendra Giri were taken to Swaroop Rani Medical College in Prayagraj for a post-mortem on Wednesday.
"The post mortem of the ABAP President started today morning and is underway. A panel of 20 doctors had been constituted by the government, out of which, five doctors were chosen for conducting the procedure at the last moment," said the members of ABAP.
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.
Anand, who alleged that it was a conspiracy by people who used to extort money from the ABAP president, was booked by the police for abetment of suicide on Tuesday.