Mahant Narendra Giri’s disciples seek to withdraw suicide case
The disciples said they only informed the police about Narendra Giri’s death at his ashram in Prayagraj and not suicide or murder
Two disciples of Mahant Narendra Giri, the head of the apex body of all Hindu monastic orders who died by suicide last year, have told.
The Allahabad high court that they will move an application before a trial court for withdrawing the First Information Report filed in the case as they did not name Anand Giri as an accused.
In their response to Anand Giri’s bail application, Amar Giri and Pawan Maharaj on Thursday said they did not intend to implicate anybody in the case even as the court adjourned the matter till August 18.
The disciples said they only informed the police about Narendra Giri’s death at his ashram in Prayagraj. “Neither we expressed apprehension about the suicide nor of murder. …we did not even mention the name of Anand Giri, who was named an accused in this case.”
Anand Giri, who was arrested in September last year, and two others face trial for abetment to suicide and criminal conspiracy. The case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which submitted its charge sheet in November. A special judge in Prayagraj rejected Anand Giri’s bail in November.
Narendra Giri’s body was found hanging in September 2021. In a note, he purportedly accused Anand Giri and two others of mental harassment.
The CBI concluded the Mahant, the president of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, lived in grave mental trauma due to the threat and fear Anand Giri, Adhya Prasad Tiwari, and Sandeep Tiwari created. It added he was compelled to die by suicide on September 20 at Baghambari Math in Prayagraj.
CBI said Mahant Narendra Giri was under psychological pressure for months. It added Anand Giri’s threat to circulate purported objectionable videos and audios of the Mahant and a woman forced him to take the extreme step that day “to avoid defamation and insult in the eyes of society, his followers and devotees.”
The agency said the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy to force the Mahant to revoke Anand Giri’s expulsion from Baghambari Gaddi and Bade Hanuman Temple for alleged misappropriation of funds and continuing to maintain close ties with his family, which is against the tradition of a sanyasi. It added their objective was to get “their position in the Baghambari Gaddi and Bade Hanuman Mandir back” and that “ in pursuance thereof [they] humiliated and harassed [Narendra Giri] mentally and psychologically.”