Mahant suicide case: CBI to quiz Anand Giri, Aadhya and Sandeep Tiwari

The Central Bureau of Investigation will interrogate Anand Giri, Aadhya Tiwari and Sandeep Tiwari to probe the suspicious death of Mahant Narendra Giri. It is learnt that the top seer might have committed suicide as he was being allegedly threatened using an obscene CD.

Lucknow: Anand Giri, Aadhya Tiwari and Sandeep Tiwari, the three accused in Mahant Narendra Giri's alleged suicide case will be interrogated by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Naini Jail. The agency will try to unravel the mystery pertaining to an electronic gadget said to be containing obscene content, which has been used to allegedly blackmail the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad chief. On the instructions of the Yogi Adityanath government, the state home department had recommended a CBI inquiry to the central government to investigate the matter.

CBI on Sunday had filed an application in Prayagraj court seeking ten-day custody of the three accused.

A team of CBI will interrogate the accused after obtaining the court's permission and also details of the properties of eight other close relatives of the Mahant including the three accused are being collected. Prayagraj's DIG Sarvashresth Tripathi, IPS, SP City Dinesh Singh, SIT in-charge CO Ajit Singh Chauhan, including a seven-member team led by CBI IG VK Choudhary, and 17 other members of the SIT are busy uncovering the secrets of Mahant's death in the investigation.

The CBI also questioned the Special Investigation Team(SIT) regarding the electronic gadget containing obscene content. However, the information provided by the SIT to the CBI in this regard has not been disclosed.

Mahant Narendra Giri, president of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, committed suicide on September 20 under suspicious circumstances. A multi-page suicide note was recovered from his room, in which three names were mentioned who allegedly forced him to commit suicide. They are Swami Anand Giri, a disciple of Mahant Narendra Giri, Aadya Tiwari, the chief priest of Lete Hanuman temple, and Sandeep Tiwari, son of Aadya Tiwari.

It may be mentioned that the Mahant's followers are constantly denying that he has committed suicide. The joint secretary of Allahabad High Court Bar Association had also filed a petition for a CBI investigation into the suspicious death of Narendra Giri.

Several political parties, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, also had demanded a CBI inquiry. After getting approval from the Centre, the CBI took over the investigation last Friday.