Chandigarh: Controversy has erupted after Punjab and High Court has directed the administration to perform the last rites of a Godman in Punjab who died 10 months ago and whose body is kept in a freezer by the functioneers of his ashram.
The local administration is making arrangements for the last rites of Ashutosh Maharaj who was the head Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (a sect) headquarted in Jallandhar. The dera functionaries, continued to hold on to their stand that their chief was in “samadhi”.
Chief spokesperson Vishalanand said they were in the process of filing a review petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court
Earlier, the High court had on December 1 announced that a five-member local committee headed by the Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner will get Ashutosh’s last rites performed in 15 days.
Deputy commissioner Kamal Kishor Yadav said he had asked police to get the barricading outside the dera premises removed since the followers had no authority to man traffic on the road.
Dera’s “task force” had been manning these barricades on the road leading to the premises as well as adjoining Kotlan village. While police personnel have now been deployed on the road, dera authorities continue to keep an eye on the movement of traffic through CCTV cameras installed along the road.
The deputy commissioner said they had circulated copies of the 129-page high court orders among the members of the team constituted by the court ahead of a meeting. “The court has given us a set of procedures to be followed for cremation and we have begun preparations on the same lines. Our preparations will continue till there are further orders by the court,” he said.
Nearly 2,000 devotees have been visiting the dera every day and the police are trying to ensure that they do not stay back. The dera chief spokesperson said he had not met DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in Chandigarh. “Maybe someone else from our dera did,” he said.
