Click to play videoMumbai: Spiritual guru Dayanand Pandey alias Amritanand Shankaracharya was taken to Mumbai on Thursday night for futher questioning in connection with the September 29 Malegaon blast case.
Pandey , also known as Sudhakar Dwivedi, was arrested in Kanpur on Wednesday and will be on transit remand for the next few days. He is likely to be produced before a Nashik Court.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad along with the UP Police arrested Pandey on Wednesday on suspicion of having played an important role in the conspiracy of the Malegaon blast.
The self-styled guru, who is said to have attended several meetings along with Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Prasad Purohit and the other Malegaon blast accused is also known by the name of Sudhakar Dwivedi and is the head of a math (religious place) in Jammu.
Pandey, a native of Varanasi, had been living in Jammu for a long time and came to Kanpur last week.
His ashram's website displays the spiritual leader hobnobbing with top politicians and film stars.
The website displays pictures of him with former President Abdul Kalam, being felicitated by former Jammu and Kashmir Governor and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jagmohan in 2005.
One picture shows him sharing the stage with top political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir like the National Conference's Omar Abdullah and the Congress leader Mangat Lal Sharma.
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