Admin takes over Emar mutt, evicts its Mahant Rajgopal Das
PURI: The Commissioner of Endowment-appointed trust board on Friday took possession of the Emar mutt by dispossessing tainted Mahant Rajgopal Das of the property. Accompanied by police and a magistrate, the trust board members broke opened the mutt doors and took possession of the rooms. They made inventories of all valuables found in the 10 rooms occupied by Mahant. The members found a tree made of silver and ornaments of the deities kept inside a huge chest. An inventory of all the items is being made in presence of the magistrate.
Sources said locals believed that many valuables including gold and jewelery would be unearthed from the mutt. However, they were left disappointed after no such recovery could be made. In 2011, Rajgopal and others were arrested by police in connection with the theft of silver ingots from the mutt and sent to jail. During investigation, 522 pieces of silver ingots weighing over 18 tonne and worth Rs 100 crore were recovered from a secret room of the mutt.
Following the Mahant’s arrest, the Endowment Commissioner had constituted an ad-hoc body of trustees to ensure continuance of daily rituals and religious services of the mutt. Later, two successive trust bodies were formed to manage the mutt affairs but Rajgopal did not cooperate after his release from jail. The Mahant was residing in the mutt complex. Since the mutt building was more than 100 years old, it was marked unsafe and the administration razed a portion of it.
As part of the 75 metre heritage corridor plan around the Sri Jagannath temple, the administration demolished the rest of the mutt structure but Rajgopal did not vacate a dilapidated building and was holed up in a 10-room compartment. After the current trust board informed the Endowment Commissioner about non-cooperation of Rajgopal, the administration used force to evict him from the mutt.
After being stripped of his powers, Rajgopal said formation of the trust board is illegal as a case in this regard is pending in the court. “I would challenge the administration’s move in court,” he added.
Now, the four-member trust body headed by Mahant Narayan Ramanuja Das of Uttarparswa mutt has assumed charge to manage affairs of Emar mutt. Naresh Dash, Pratima Mishra and advocate Banabehari Naik are other members of the board.