Hindu seer Shanti Swaroopanand, BJP leader among four booked for fraud in Ujjain

Police in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain have filed an FIR against Hindu seer Shanti Swaroopanand Maharaj, a BJP leader and two others on the directions of a local court for allegedly indulging in a fraud and breach of trust, an official said on Thursday.

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The case was registered against Niranjani Akhada (Ujjain) Mahamandaleshwar Shanti Swaroopanand Maharaj, BJP leader Ashok Prajapati, Mahaveer Prasad Mansinghka and Omprakash Agrawal under Sections 420 (cheating) and 419 (cheating by personation) of the IPC, Ujjain city’s Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Nitesh Bhargava said.

In his complaint, Sohil Patel said that Parmanand Maharaj was the lifelong president of Ujjain’s Akhand Ashram Trust as per the bylaws, but Swaroopanand Maharaj declared himself as the president of the trust and signed an agreement in 2022 with him to rent out its Yatri Niwas on a rent of Rs 3 lakh per month and 50 per cent share in net profit, Mahakal police station in-charge Narendra Singh Parihar said.

Efforts to contact the accused, including Shanti Swaroopanand and Prajapati proved futile as they did not answer the calls.

Meanwhile, Akhil Bharatiya Pujari Mahasangh’s national president Mahesh Pujari in a letter to the Madhya Pradesh government demanded resignation of Swaroopanand Maharaj from the post of mahamandaleshwar (head priest).

He also urged the Akhada Parishad president to take action against Shanti Swaroopanand as both of them belong to the Nirnjani Akhada.