Ashutosh’s death: Two pleas for probe before high court bench

Justice Rekha Mittal of the Punjab and Haryana high court has referred the petition of Puran Singh, former driver of spiritual leader Ashutosh Maharaj, for CBI probe into his death to the bench hearing the petition of Ashutosh’s son for claiming his body from Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (DJJS) of Nurmahal (Jalandhar).

The case is expected to come up before the court of justice MMS Bedi, where the petition of Ashutosh’s son, Dalip Kumar Jha, is marked for next hearing on May 28.

Since January 29, when the sansthan doctors declared Ashutosh Maharaj dead clinically, the dera management has kept the body inside a deep freezer, claiming that the spiritual head is in samadhi (deep meditation).

Punjab Police have submitted in the high court already that there is no evidence to show that the death of Ashutosh Maharaj is unnatural and under suspicious circumstances.

Puran wanted the case moved to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the body brought out of freezer for autopsy, while Jha seeks his father’s mortal remains and inquiry into the cause of death.

He accuses the dera management of holding on to Ashutosh’s body and disallowing access to it to usurp the sansthan property worth Rs 1,000 crore.