Court extends custody of accused in death of Monk

Mumbai, Jan 11 (UNI) A local court here today extended police custody of three persons, allegedly involved in mysterious death of a Buddhist Monk, till January 16.

The accused, builder Lakdawala, Vivek Kolekar and Arun Kamble were arrested by police last evening. The fourth accused, Manohar Jadhav who surrendered himself before the police yesterday, has also been remanded to police custody till the same date.

Advocate Raees Khan, representing Lakdawala, said his client was falsely implicated in the case and was innocent.

The police had registered a murder case against the trio for their alleged involvement in the mysterious death of Buddhist monk, Buddha Bhante Bhadhant Sanghraj, on January 6.

The 75-year-old monk was found hanging from the ceiling of his home at Gautam Nagar in Deonar in north-east Mumbai.

The complainant, Nandbodhi Boddha, had accused builder Lakdawala, Vivek Kolekar, Arun Kamble, Manohar Jadhav and their accomplices of allegedly murdering the monk.

It is suspected that the Monk, who was an executive member of the ''Boudh Vihar Committee'', was involved in a dispute with the builder over a piece of land belonging to Boudh Vihar.

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