The national spokesperson of Akhil Bhartiya Akhada Parishad, Mahant Mohan Das has gone missing from a moving train while heading for Mumbai for his routine medical check-up. Since Saturday night, when it was discovered that he was not on the train, hordes of members of the religious fraternity are coming to the Akhada at Kankhal in Haridwar.
The police have made security arrangements outside the akhada and are probing the issue from all angles, whether it is a case of abduction or otherwise. The office bearers of Akhada Parishad, the apex body of Hindu sadhus, have demanded personal security from the local police. It is alleged that ever since the list of fake saints was released by the council, the office bearers were receiving threat calls from anonymous sources.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Akhil Bhartiya Akhada Parishad had released a list of 14 fake babas and demanded a crackdown on “rootless cult leaders” by bringing a legislation. The All India council of sadhus had called for boycott of these blacklisted persons in the list marked.
Mahant Mohan Das, head of Panchayati Akhada Bada Udaseen, left for Mumbai via lokmanya Tilak Express past Friday midnight. The train was delayed so he boarded at 1:55 am past midnight from Haridwar railway station. He was going for a routine stomach check up at a hospital in Mumbai. At Hazrat Nizamudiin station, it was realised that he had disappeared, said the police. last night around 2 past midnight SSP Krishna Kumar VK reached akhada and talked to the members. From the security point of view, police personnel have been posted at the akhada premises.
Speaking to The Pioneer, Kothari Sukhdev Muni of Udaseen Bada akhada said, “He never had a fight with anyone. Never ever has such an incident occurred before. We were getting constant threats ever since the list of fake saints was made public. We are told that when the ticket checker came to Delhi, he did not find Mahant on his seat. When the police enquired, the co-passenger said that when he woke up after Delhi he realised that the Mahant was not there.”
Notably, Sukhdev Muni was appointed as ‘Karobari mahant’ in the year 2004 and after the death of Kothari Rajendra Das, he became Kothari of the akhada in the year 2012. Since then he is looking after administrative and financial matters of the akhada. Sukhdev Muni also said that the akhada members used to get calls from various phone numbers saying “Asaram ka chela bol raha hun, kabhi Rampal ka chela bol raha hun. Agar list jari ki to mar denge.” (Disciple of Ram Pal calling, disciple of Asaram calling, if you issue the list of fake saints, we will get you killed.”
Meanwhile, the police have set an inquiry from all the angles. Superintendent of police, (city) Mamta Vohra said, “We are probing the missing person case from all angles. It is difficult to arrive at a conclusion right now. The threats which the Mahant was receiving are also major markers in the case.”
Speaking to this correspondent, the Akhada Parishad president Mahant Narendra Giri said, “Before starting for Mumbai, Mohan Das had called his disciple on phone asking him to deliver food to him at Bhopal. On Saturday, when the disciple reached Bhopal to deliver the food to the Mahant in the train, he found the Mahant missing. His luggage was safe but he was missing. We fear that he has gone missing from the moving train under suspicious circumstances and he has been kidnapped. He was getting threats after the issuance of the list of fake saints by the Akhada Parishad.”
Meanwhile, the Akhada Parishad president Mahant Narendra Giri and other saints have demanded from the police that they must be given security in view of such incidents.