BJP leader lodges FIR against mahant

LUCKNOW : Days after Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati gave a call to devotees to reach Ayodhya on February 21 for ‘shilanyas’ at the Ram Janmabhoomi site, his close aide, Mahant Janmejay Sharan, was booked in a murderous assault case here on Friday.

Sharan, chief priest of Jankighat, was to play host to Shankaracharya during his stay in Ayodhya. The FIR was lodged by Parmanand Mishra, district general secretary, BJP, at Ayodhya Kotwali. Apart from Sharan, four other unidentified persons have been booked for attempting to kill Mishra, said the police.

In his complaint, Mishra stated that on February 5 when he was passing through Jankighat at around 6pm, Mahant Janmejay Sharan and four others opened fire on him but he escaped. Mishra and Sharan have a long standing property dispute.

Sharan, however, denied all charges. He said the allegations were politically motivated and part of the government’s plan to scuttle Swaroopanand’s ‘shilanyas’ on February 21.