Name of Baba Shankarananda Giri alias Sankar Maharana, president of the Prabhuji English Medium School in the
city, has come in the list of alleged fraud Babas with charges of land grabbing and exploiting foreigners.
The case came to the fore after one Allen Franklin Nelson of Denmark reported to the media that he
has been cheated by Shankarananda to the tune of RS2 crore (3.2 lakh euro) which he had given for setting up of Kriya Yoga ashrams.
Shankaranand had threatened to kill him if he files complaints in any police station and told him to leave India soon when Allen had demanded his money back in 2010.
But Allen lodged an FIR at the Saheed Nagar police station on February 22 that year. As the police took no action, he then lodged another FIR at the Chandrasekharpur PS against Shankarananda.
Though late, the Saheed Nagar police on Wednesday called Allen to submits his documents against his complaint. Accordingly, Allen submitted documents.
“We received a call from Saheed Nagar police station last evening asking us to come with documents relevant to the case. Accordingly, we came and submitted the documents today,” Allen’s counsel laxmi Narayan Rayatsingh said.
Shankarananda had built the Prabhujee English Medium School on a six-acre land of the GA Department at VSS Nagar. Besides, he has a 22-acre orchard at Redhakhol in Sambalpur district where he stays at least for 10 days a month. He had purchased the Rajbati there in 2009.
Meanwhile, Shankarananda was spotted in the company of a foreigner lady at a hotel in Chandikhol on Wednesday morning. He and a disciple of his were staying in Room No 207 while the foreigner woman was staying in Room 209 of Mid-East Hotel in Chandikhol. They had checked into the hotel on the evening of August 31, according to the occupancy register in the hotel.