Demanding steps from the Government to make the village crematorium ground, gochar land and road encroachment free which are occupied by the devotees of Barimula based Sarathi Ashram and action against hooliganism of Sarathi Baba’s people, hundreds of locals under Barimula gram panchayat on Thursday staged a road blockade by burning tyres in front of the Ashram main road on Tinimuhani-Indupur road.
The locals alleged that though they brought the matter before the district administration umpteen times, yet no action was taken. The district administration, a month back, had organised a meeting at the Collectorate by inviting the Trust members and villagers and asked the trust members not to use the public property for parking area which was creating traffic jam on the Tinimuhani-Indupur road.
Notably, road jam occurs every Sunday and festival days on the Ashram’s main road for hours as the Sarathi Baba devotees come to the Ashram in large number and park their vehicles on the road. Even emergency services, most of the time, get disrupted due to jam on Barimula village road and Tinimuhani-Indupur road.
But recently, the Satyam Charitable Trust that runs the Baba’s Ashram, by violating the district administration’s direction, used the crematorium ground as parking place. As a result, some youths of Barimula village opposed it following which some devotees and the inmates of Sarathi Ashram allegedly assaulted three youths.
However, when police got a complaint in this regard, instead of taking action against the assaulters, the Kendrapada Sadar police allegedly nabbed the three youths, who were assaulted. This provoked the villagers to hold a demonstration at Barimula on the Tinimuhani-Indupur road. They demanded arrest of the Baba’s men who assaulted the three youths. SDPO Nrushingha Swain and ADM Umakanta Swain rushed to the spot and managed to pacify the agitators.
The road blockade was withdrawn after the district administration asked the agitators to organize a meeting under the chairmanship of the District Collector within a week to solve the problem. The members of Satyam Charitable Trust stated that as the Baba’s name and fame was increasing rapidly worldwide, some locals out of jealousy were trying to defame him. Besides, they said that some locals demanded the Ashram to provide Rs 5 lakh per month to a club, but when the trust denied, they were now creating disturbances. Meanwhile, Sarathi Baba on Thursday evening organised a Press meet and urged the scribes to cooperate with him to solve the ongoing problem.