ABAP chief’s suicide case: Was Anand Giri arrested in Australia in May 2019 for molestation? Allahabad HC asks CBI to verify

File image: Anand Giri&nbsp | &nbspPhoto Credit:&nbspIANS

Key Highlights

• On September 20, 2021, Mahant Narendra Giri was found hanging from the ceiling of his room in Shri Math Baghambari Gaddi, under Georgetown Police Station, in Prayagraj

• In November, the CBI filed a charge sheet against three people, including Anand Giri, on alleged charges of abetment to suicide

• The CBI said there is enough evidence to prosecute the trio for abetment to suicide and criminal conspiracy in connection with the alleged suicide of the Mahant

Prayagraj: In a recent order, the Allahabad High Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to check whether Anand Giri, one of the accused in Mahant Narendra Giri’s alleged suicide case, had visited Australia in May 2019 and whether he had been arrested there in a molestation case.

Apparently, he was taken into police custody in Australia and later released and returned to India safely.

Also, the court directed the CBI counsel to submit an affidavit after verifying this information.

The order was passed by Justice Rajiv Gupta when he heard the bail application of Anand Giri. 

During Anand Giri’s bail hearing, the bench asked whether he had any criminal antecedents. Giri’s counsel maintained that he did not. Consequently, the prosecution lawyer pointed out to the court that in the charge sheet against him, it is alleged that he was arrested in Australia in a molestation case in 2019.

As indicated in para-16.7 of the charge sheet filed by the CBI, Anand Giri had visited Australia in May 2019 and had been arrested in a molestation case. He remained in police custody until he was released from custody and returned to India.

The bench ordered the central agency to inform it of its findings by the next date of hearing, i.e. February 14.

Anand Giri has been in jail since September 22, 2021, following the suicide of his guru Mahant Narendra Giri, the former chief of the Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad.

The bail application states that the applicant has been falsely implicated in this case.

According to the application, Narendra Giri did not write the alleged suicide note.

Also, he has claimed he was not in Prayagraj on the day of the suicide, contending that police had told him about it when he was in Haridwar.