The last holy dip of sadhus here during the Kumbh Mela was marred today by a poor turnout of pilgrims and infighting among sadhus, leading to boycott of the holy dip by the chief mahant of an akhada.The third and last holy dip of the 10 akhadas of Shaiv sadhus at Trimbakeshwar was scheduled for today. However, the Shambhu Panch Dashnam Juna Akhada (SPDJA) did not participate in it even as the other nine akhadas protested against its mahant Parmanand Saraswati’s ‘‘high-handed behaviour.’’ Police had beefed up security and stationed rapid action force near SPDJA. A bomb detection squad was also deployed to carry out a thorough search of the SPDJA.Annoyed with the police action, mahant Parmanand told reporters around 1.30 am today that he had decided to boycott the holy dip to protest against the police gesture. ‘‘They sent sniffer dogs to search my belongings,’’ he said, adding, ‘‘Am I a terrorist?’’ He said his akhada would boycott the holy dip and settle old scores with the other akhadas at the next Kumbh in Ujjain next year.District Superintendent of Police Ravindra Singhal said police carried out the checks on receiving a tip-off making the checking mandatory.The other nine akhadas took the holy dip today from 3.55 am to 10 am after which the Kushavart pool was opened for pilgrims. The turnout of pilgrims was poor and some of them forced entry into the Kushavart pool during intervals between holy baths by the akhadas.All the Shahi Snans at the Kumbh Mela have now concluded. While the Vaishnav sadhus have already left Nashik, their Shaiv counterparts would leave Trimbakeshwar in a few days.The Kumbh period, which goes on till August 27, 2004, would now only include auspicious occasions for rituals conducted by local priests.
