DEHRADUN: Crime wears a veneer of mass acceptance when it is combined with elements of spirituality.
Take for instance, PP (moniker for Prakash Pandey), currently serving life sentence in Almora jail for multiple crimes, including killing senior Delhi Police officer ACP Rajbir Singh in 2008. He was recently anointed a saint - within the four walls of prison - by the management of the Shri Panchdashnam Juna Akhara based in Haridwar. PP (52) now has a new name - Prakashanand Giri.
The akhara is a prominent sect within the Kumbh Mela. “We have initiated an inquiry into the matter,” said Shri Mahant Hari Giri, international patron of Juna Akhara. “We deny that PP was made the mahamandaleshwar or mathadheesh of our akhara.”
That came with a rider. “Everyone has the right to voluntarily embrace Sanatana Dharma in their life. Therefore, we cannot abandon mafia don PP, who has come into the fold of Sanatana Dharma, and leave him alone,” the Mahant said.
“Akhara will support Prakash Pandey’s spiritual pursuits, it will not interfere with the legal consequences of his past crimes,” said Mahant Hari Giri. “We will cooperate in his spiritual journey. Law will handle his criminal actions.”
Mahant Hari Giri denied that money was involved in PP’s anointment. He has formed a seven-member inquiry committee to investigate the matter.
DIG (Prisons) Dadhiram Maurya said the Almora jail administration did not know about the anointment.
PP, who hails from Haldwani, began his criminal career in 1994, associating with Chhota Rajan’s henchmen Farid Tanasha and Vicky Malhotra. He committed his first murder in 1995, bumping off a local leader. PP even traveled to Karachi in 1998 and 2000 to attack Dawood Ibrahim.