Caretaker of Sant Gyaneshwar ashram shot dead in Barabanki

The head secretary of Sant Gyaneshwar ashram in Rasanda, Barabanki, was shot dead inside his ashram on Saturday. According to the FIR registered by an ashram inmate Suryakant Mani, the 52-yearold Thakur Ramsahai Singh’s seven disciples had a hand in his murder.

Interestingly, the initial information was changed several times before the disciples were named. Sant Gyaneshwar was murdered in February 2006 while returning from the Magh Mela in Allahabad. The then Sultanpur MLA Sonu and his block pramukh brother Monu, along with two others, were named in the murder.

The assailants murdered Ramsahai early on Saturday when he was sleeping outside the ashram under a mosquito net. Eyewitnesses said that he was spotted lying on his hard bed with blood oozing from behind his head. Haidergarh circle officer Tauqeer Ahmad said Hareram, a resident of Bihar, Pratap, a

THE ASSAILANTS MURDERED RAMSAHAI EARLY ON SATURDAY WHEN HE WAS SLEEPING OUTSIDE THE ASHRAM UNDER A MOSQUITO NET.

resident of Raisanda village, Ram Niwas and Vipin Kumar from Delhi, Durgesh Pandey and Prem Das from Haridwar and Anand Bhatt from Virat Nagar, Nepal have been named as the accused. All of the accused were reportedly disciples of Sant Gyaneshwar but couldn’t get along with Singh, who ran the ashram after the seer’s murder.

Hare Ram, one of the seven accused used to live outside the ashram. Additional superintendent of police Kuldeep Narayan said there weren’t any eyewitnesses. He said even Hare Ram wasn’t living outside the ashram for the last one month. “Investigations are on. We are on the job,” he said.