Rival Shankaracharya arrested

BHUBANESWAR, JULY 17: Swami Adhokshyananda, the rival claimant to the seat of Shankaracharya of Puri was arrested today along with seven o...

BHUBANESWAR, JULY 17: Swami Adhokshyananda, the rival claimant to the seat of Shankaracharya of Puri was arrested today along with seven of his disciples for violation of orders under Section 144 CrPC for prohibiting his movement within the limits of Puri district.

They were arrested at Puri under Section 188 and 186 of CrPC and Section 173 of IPC from a house near the Catholic Church where the Swami had been staying since his arrival in the holy town on Saturday, police said.

Police had to forcibly break open the main gate to effect the arrest. Earlier, Adhokshyananda had been served with an order of the sub-divisional magistrate, which he tore up in the presence of the magistrate and police.

Meanwhile, according to a report received from Cuttack, a criminal case was filed in the Orissa High Court today on behalf of Adhokshyananda by his counsel Pitambar Acharya, challenging the prohibitory order issued by the sub-divisional magistrate, Puri.

Justice B P Das of the High Court issued notice to the Collector, Superintendent of Police and Sub-Collector, Puri while fixing July 20 for the hearing of the case.

The counsel described the prohibitory orders slapped on Adhokshyananda as malafide and gross infringement of his Constitutional Rights.

Meanwhile, the Orissa government today described Adhokshyananda as an imposter.

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The Minister for Revenue and Law, Biswabhushan Harichandan said in the State Assembly that the Government and the Endowment Commissioner had recognised Swami Nischalananda Saraswati as the Shankaracharya.

The issue cropped up in the House during Zero Hour with BJD members Maheswar Mohanty, who represents Puri, and Prafulla Chandra Ghadai demanding a statement from the Government.

While the Speaker, Sarat Kumar Kar said that he could not give any direction to the Government as it was a sensitive issue, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Nalinikanta Mohanty pleaded with the members not to discuss the subject.

But the Law Minister rose to say that the present claimant to the seat had also come to Puri earlier and had been removed from there by the district administration.

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He is an imposter, he said, adding he had been moving around the country claiming himself to be the Puri seer.

Having locked himself inside a house in Puri, Swami Adhokshyananda was talking to mediapersons through a window while police had been deployed in the area, Harichandan said.

He and his followers had also threatened to commit self-immolation if any attempt was made to force the door open, the Minister said.