Pandey, godman with terror link knows bigwigs

New Delhi: Dayanand Pandey, the man arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Mumbai Police appears to have connections in high places.

Dayanand Pandey alias Swami Amritanand Shankaracharya aka Sudhakar Dwivedi has been handed over to Maharashtra ATS.

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, BJP leader Jagmohan in 2005.

One picture shows him sharing the stage with top political leaders from J-K like the National Conference's Omar Abdullah and the Congress leader Mangat Lal Sharma.

There are other pictures of the self-styled god man with film stars and top bureaucrats.

His institution, the 'Sarvagyapeeth' is a namesake of a similar peeth that existed before independence in what is now Pakistan occupied Kashmir. He runs another trust in Jammu called Vedic Vishva Kalyan Trust.

Now the trustees of the Kashmiri Pandit Dharamshala in Haridwar say that Pandey's activities were always suspect.

The General Secretary of the Kashmiri Pandit Haridwar Trust H L Chatta said, "Some army men would visit him. Some were serving personnel, others were retired people. So we raised a voice against that and stressed that this is a dharamshala (sanatorium) and no political activities should take place here."

Pandey had obviously enough clout in Jammu and Kashmir to even manage state police to provide him with security. His website mentions six patrons of the Sarvagyapeeth, four of whom are Padmashree awardees.

He was also a part of the Amarnath Sangharsha Samiti that contested the land issue for temple trust in Jammu. He even shared space on the stage with the Samiti's convenor Leela Karan Sharma but all those he associated with before are now disowning any links with him.

The Organisor of the Kashmiri Pandit Haridwar Trust, Chamana Lal Bhat said, "There was a huge fracas as the board was changed. All Kashmiri Pandit Welfare Society, Haridwar is what it was earlier as per our organisation's decisions. He came and changed that to Sharda Mutt. He added his assumed title of Jagatguru Shankaracharya. That led to a lot of strife."

Pandey had established himself in Haryana as well. the state police raided his ashram in Anangpur village of Faridabad, a suburb of the national capital. His trust building is registered as a camp office.

Pandey will now be questioned by the ATS in Mumbai.

The ATS claims that there is enough evidence to nail his direct involvement in the Malegaon blasts. He is likely to be produced before the Nashik court by Saturday.

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