LUCKNOW: The body of a Greater Noida businessman was recovered from a room of the Karauli Ashram. The ashram belongs to self-styled godman Dr Santosh Singh Bhadauria alias Karauli Baba.
The businessman, identified as Devendra Singh Bhati (56), a property dealer, had arrived at the Ashram around five days ago for yoga practice and detox sessions. However, he was found dead under mysterious circumstances. His body was found lying on its belly on the floor in his room on Monday morning.
Sources claimed that Bhati had come out of his room at 7.30 am on April 30. He went to bed at 9.30 pm. The next morning, when the businessman failed to emerge from his room, the Ashram inmates got suspicious and broke open the doors of his room to find his body lying face down on the floor. The inmates turned the body and discovered he was dead. They hauled the body out without informing the police.
Only later, one of the servants of the Ashram, Gopal Gupta, lodged a complaint with the Bidhnu police station. Following this, an FIR was registered by the police.
Upon information, the police reached the spot and informed the property dealer's family. Subsequently, the body was shifted to a hospital for post-mortem.
An autopsy of the body was done by a panel of doctors. The procedure was videographed.
Devendra Singh Bhati used to often visit Karauli Baba ashram.
According to ACP Ghatampur Devendra Kumar Shukla, the cause of the death was yet to be ascertained and the viscera of the deceased was preserved.
The police officer claimed that the family of the deceased had not submitted any complaint so far. "However, an investigation has been launched into the incident,” ACP added.
"When the body of the businessman was sent for forensic examination, traces of blood were found on the torso. There was a scratch on the toe of the deceased. Blood was oozing from the nose. Traces of saliva and blood were found on the right hand," police sources said further.
Meanwhile, soon after getting the information about the death of Devender Singh Bhati, a resident of Greater Noida’s NSG apartment, his family reached Kanpur from Greater Noida. They told the media that they had spoken to him on the phone on Sunday evening and till then everything was fine. "We have doubts about his sudden death," they added.
Karauli Baba claims to cure serious ailments through spiritual healing. People from faraway places come to his ashram in large numbers. Recently, he had hit the headlines for beating up a doctor, also hailing from Noida, in the ashram.
