Trahi Achyuta ashram: A family run business

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 29:

While the beleaguered self-proclaimed godman Srimad Sarathi Dev alias Santosh Roul was under siege followed by his arrest for his alleged misdeeds, victims of other fake godmen and spiritual gurus are speaking out against them of their fraudulent practices.

The chief of Trahi Achyuta ashram–Surendra Mishra alias Sura Baba—and his two sons–Trilochan Mishra and Biranchi Mishra—are under the lens of suspicion for hostile takeover of an under-constructed house at Achyuta Nagar in the premises of the ashram.

A woman has levelled serious allegations of land grab against the trio and their associated for encroaching over her land on which construction of her house was underway.

After she was disallowed to take possession of her house, she had filed an FIR with Balianta police and later approached the High Court seeking justice.

As per the complaint filed with Balipatna police by one Mamata Mishra from Bidanasi in Cuttack, her under-constructed house near the ashram has been illegally occupied by the Baba and his sons.

Mamata was a frequent visitor to the ashram and a follower of Baba. After several visits, the Baba advised her to settle in the ashram and dedicate her life in the service of Lord. Upon his advice, she purchased a land at Achyuta Nagar in the vicinity of the ashram and started construction of the house. However, Baba’s sons opposed to the construction and insisted that they would do the construction works. In the meantime, the construction was halted due to financial crunch on her part.

Recently, she had visited the construction site and to utter shock she found that the house has been almost constructed and interior works are underway. When she asked the workers that who has gone ahead with the construction, they said that Baba has instructed them to do the work so they were doing it.

While the stressed woman marched towards Baba’s residence to enquire about it, the sons of Baba intercepted her and said that the Achyuta Nagar committee has decided that she cannot stay in that and the same has been sold to someone else.

When she asked about refund of the money that she had invested on the land and construction, she was driven out of the ashram and threatened to eliminate her. She reportedly told that some of the disciples of Baba even followed her till Bhubaneswar while she was returning from the ashram.

Later, she filed an FIR (71/13) with Balipatna police to initiate action against Biranchi, Trilochan, Ashok Das and Tuna. However, the local police developed cold feet to arrest the accused. Instead, the men in khakhi allegedly threatened the woman and her husband and did not cooperate with them.

Mamata ran from pillar to post seeking justice, but all her efforts went in vain.

“I approached the Twin City Commissioner of Police, DG, Crime Branch ADG and even chief minister’s grievance cell. But, nobody lent an ear to my grievances. I am really pained,” a sobbing Mamata said.

After failing to get justice from various quarters, she knocked on the doors of High Court. The allegation of fraud against the ashram is not an isolated case. Several devotees had been conned lakhs of rupees deposited towards booking amount for houses in Achyuta Nagar. As the seemingly sole criterion to avail housing scheme was people other than localites, the Baba and his muscle men could easily run their nefarious activities without much hiccups.

It may be recalled that the Twin City Commissioner Dr RP Sharma had said that Achyuta Nagar has not connection with the Trahi Achyuta ashram while briefing newsmen after the arrest of two hardcore criminials from the ashram who had been residing in the colony since last 19 years.

Surprisingly, the Commissionerate police have kept mum since last two years on a complaint filed in a police station which comes under its jurisdiction.

Notably, as many as 96 duplex houses have come up in the sprawling Achyuta Nagar in the premises of the ashram. While none of the residents belong to the local area, the owners of the property were either from various parts of the state or outside. The two criminals from Bihar who were arrested recently had also bought houses in this colony.

It is alleged that the two sons of the Baba– Trilochan and Biranchi–had defrauded many devotees of the spiritual guru.