Swami Nigamanand's family demands probe

Darbhanga, June 15: Family members of Swami Nigamanand, who died at a hospital in Dehradun after fasting for over two months, today (June 15) demanded a thorough probe into the circumstances leading to his death.

Uttarakhand government's insensitivity can be gauged from the fact that it arranged the best medical facility to Yoga guru Ramdev at the same hospital in Dehradun where Nigamanand died for lack of treatment, Nigamanand's father Subhash Chandra Jha, grandfather Surya Narayan Jha and grand mother Jaikali Devi said.

The family members spoke to Bihar Director General of Police Neelmani and Home department's Principal Secretary Amir Subhani, seeking their help for bringing the body to the native village Ladari in Uttrakhand.

Justice should be done and the "Bihar government should also take up the matter with the Uttrakhand government," they said.

"We want to cremate the body at the village," they said and added that the role of Shivanand, another Swami of Matra Sadan in Hardwar, should also be probed.

Swami Nigamanand of Matra Sadan passed away at the hospital in Dehradun on June 13. He had been on fast-unto-death since February 19, 2011, for the 68th consecutive day, when he was forcibly hospitalised by the district administration.

Nigamanand, who died at 34, was agitating against illegal quarrying being carried out in the Ganga river-bed with the alleged connivance of officials and quarrying mafia.

PTI