Head of Akhara Parishad found dead
PRAYAGRAJ: President of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad and Mahant of Bade Hanuman temple of Prayagraj Narendra Giri was found dead inside his room at Baghambari Gaddi Math on Monday, police said.
Giri was found hanging from a ceiling fan by a rope, officials said. SP (City) Dinesh Kumar Singh said a police team reached Baghambari Gaddi Math in the evening on receiving the information and found Giri hanging; forensic field units were carrying out an investigation and people in the Math were being questioned in this connection.
A purported suicide note was found from the room and it accused his disciple, Anand Giri, and two others, police said.
“Based on the suicide note, we detained Anand Giri in Haridwar with help of Uttarakhand police. Anand Giri is being brought to UP for further questioning,” said Prashant Kumar, ADG (law and order), UP.
Senior police officials including IG Prayagraj Range KP Singh and SSP Sarvshrestha Tripathi also reached the spot. Inspector General of Police KP Singh said police received a call from the Ashram at around 5.25pm informing them that Giri was found hanging in his room at the guest house of Baghambari Gaddi Math. Prima facie, it appeared that Giri committed suicide by hanging himself. His disciples at the math informed that the room was bolted from inside, said IG (Prayagraj range).
“The eight-page suicide note stated that Mahant Narendra Giri took the extreme step as he was not happy with some of his disciples. It also mentioned his will on the ashram and names of many disciples including Anand Giri. Narendra Giri, in the note, said he wanted to live with dignity but was unhappy due to some reasons. His disciples have confirmed that the handwriting is of Giri, but anything concrete could be said only after proper investigations,” said the IG.
A heavy crowd of devotees assembled outside Baghambari Gaddi Math as news of his death spread in Prayagraj.
PM Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath condoled the death. The PM expressed sorrow
on his death and hailed him for playing a vital role in uniting saints of different streams while remaining true to spiritual traditions.
Adityanath termed the death a huge loss to the spiritual world and prayed for his disciples and followers to bear the loss.
Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had met 62-yearold Giri on Sunday. “I am unable to believe that Mahant Narendra Giri could have committed suicide. I am shocked, pained and at a loss of words. I knew him since childhood and he was always very brave. I had sought his blessings on the morning of September 19. He was very normal then…,” Maurya tweeted.
Meanwhile, AAP MP Sanjay Singh expressed pain at the death of Giri under suspicious circumstances and demanded a CBI probe, claiming neither the common man nor saints were safe under the present government.
Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma said the state government would get the death investigated. Giri was elected president of the all-powerful Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, the apex decision-making body of the 13 recognised Hindu monastic orders of the country in 2014 for five years. He was re-elected to the post in October 2019. In May 2021, Giri had a fallout with his disciple and then “Chote Mahant” of the temple, Anand Giri, following which the latter was expelled from Baghambari Math and Niranjani Akhara.
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