In connection with the murder of Sudhir Giri, the Mahant of Mahanirvani Panchayati Akhara in April 2012, the Haridwar police claim to have solved the case by arresting four accused on Friday. The accused have been identified as Haridwar resident Ashish Sharma, Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh) natives Mehtab alias Kala, Imtiyaz alias Ashfaq Ahmad and Haji Naushad. According to the police, Sharma orchestrated the murder to get rid of the Mahant so that he himself could continue dealing in lands of the Akhara.
It should be mentioned here that Mahant Sudhir Giri, who was going to Belda from Kankhal by car was shot dead by unidentified persons on Haridwar-Delhi national highway near Belda village under Roorkee Kotwali area on April 14, 2012. Taking cognisance of this, a caseunder section 302 of IPC was registered against unidentified persons in the Roorkee Kotwali.
To solve this case, Haridwar SSP Sadanand Shankar Rao Date formed a fresh team headed by Kotwali in-charge Yogendra Singh and the team began investigating the case from various angles including property dispute, competition and rivalry among members of the religious fraternity, individual animosity and illicit relationship.
The SSP said that during investigation, it was revealed that Ashish Sharma alias Dulli had paid Rs nine lakh to Mehtab for killing the Mahant. Sharma was an accountant in the Akhara and also worked as a property dealer in the area. He used to purchase Akhara land at lower rates with the help of Akhara members and sell the land at higher rate. Sharma had earned considerable money in the property dealing business.
The Mahant was opposing Sharma's purchasing Akhara land at lower rate and selling it at higher rate in the market. In 2004 the Mahant had removed Sharma from the post of accountant in the Akhara. However, Sharma somehow managed to secure the same post in the year 2006 and had developed animosity with the Mahant. He finally paid Rs nine lakh to Mehtab for murdering the Mahant. The SSP further said that the police had also recovered pistols and bullets from the possession of the accused. State director general of police BS Sidhu announced a reward of Rs10,000 to the police teams for solving the case.