Condoling the death of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP) president Mahant Narendra Giri whose body was found under mysterious circumstances in Prayagraj, Congress has demanded an investigation into the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the supervision of the Supreme Court or the Division Bench of the High Court.
In the press conference held at the state headquarters here on Tuesday, Congress Working Committee member and former Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari and State Congress President Ajay Kumar Lallu jointly expressed their anger over the incident and alleged that 21 saints have been killed or died under suspicious circumstances under the regime of the Yogi Adityanath. The Congress leaders said, “To date, 21 saints have been killed or died under suspicious circumstances under the rule of a chief minister who calls himself a Yogi. Under Yogi Adityanath’s rule, Uttar Pradesh has become a state of murder and heinous crimes. NCRB data confirms this.”
Tiwari said that the death of Mahant Narendra Giri under suspicious circumstances is sad not only for the Sant Samaj but also for the country. The “offence of suppressing the facts” of the incident will not be accepted at any cost, said Tiwari.
He further asked, “Why, how and under whose pressure the police termed it a suicide without the post-mortem report? Congress is concerned that no other sadhu or sanyasis should be killed. A video going viral should also be made a part of the investigation. What conversation took place between Mahant ji and the Deputy Chief Minister, who met him a day before the incident? This should also be a matter of investigation. Even if he committed suicide, what compelled him to take such a drastic step?”
“This should also be found out that who all had an eye on the property of the Math worth thousands of crores. Only if the matter is investigated by the CBI investigates the case under the supervision of the Supreme Court or the Division Bench of the High Court, only then will the truth come to the fore,” stated Tiwari.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Ajay Kumar Lallu alleged that “Yogi Raj has become Dushasan Raj”, adding that no one is safe in the Yogi Adityanath-led state.
He further said, “There are speculations that Mahant ji was unable to sign, then who wrote the 7-page suicide note? Who conspired at the highest level to grab the property of the math? If the suicide note itself is to be taken as true, then three persons are named in it, but only one person was named in the FIR.”