Monk fakes PM and Kalam's signature
By Aman Sharma, New Delhi, November 9, 2009
The CBI has registered a case against a Buddhist monk in West Bengal who has allegedly published fake messages by PM Manmohan Singh and ex-President APJ Abdul Kalam in a book.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked the agency to probe the monk who published these messages praising his two books, and even forged their signatures on these fake messages.
The monk, Buddha Priya Mahathera, is not co-operating with the probe, sources said. CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal said the agency had lodged a case of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery for the purpose of harming reputation of important personalities.
"The suspects are Buddha Priya Mahathera and Atri Sinha Barua.
The name of the books are - Dr Bongkot Sitthipol, A Life Dedicated To World Peace written by Mahathera and Ven. Dr. Buddha Priya Mahathera - Ambassador of Peace edited by Barua," Bhal said.
The case has been assigned to the CBI's Special Crimes Division.
The PMO was apprised of the fraud this April. Ananda Bhikkhu, the general secretary of another prominent Buddhist organisation - the Bharatiya Sangharaj Bhikkhu Mahasabha in Bodhgaya - filed an RTI application to the PMO and the President's Office, asking if Manmohan Singh or APJ Kalam had ever written messages for the books concerned in 2006.
"Both the PMO and President's Office replied saying no such message was issued. This confirmed our doubts. We then filed an official complaint with the PMO," Bhikkhu said.
CBI on trail of monk who published fake messages in books By Aman Sharma in New Delhi First, a team from the Intelligence Bureau was deputed to contact Mahathera and speak to Bhikkhu in Bodhgaya to know more about the matter. After being convinced of the fraud, the Centre asked the CBI to step in.
Mahatera is the general secretary of Siddharth United Social Welfare Mission, a charitable society, registered at Chinhar Park, Rajarhat in Kolkata.
Barua is the president of the society, which claims to be an organisation of international repute and renders humanitarian services for tribal children and runs three centres in India where over 100 children are brought up.
"The Universal Foundation for Peace and Interreligious and International Federation of Peace at Norway has recognised Mahathera as Ambassador of Peace on May 5, 2007. He is the second Indian leader other than Swami Vivekanand who has attained so great a height of spirituality and distinction," says the society's website, which displays photographs of Mahathera with Jyoti Basu, heads of many foreign consulates among others.
The website also says Mahathera has been awarded by various organisations in Myanmar, Germany, France, Spain, Ghana, Norway, Netherlands and Sweden.
But repeated attempts to reach Mahathera on the phone numbers listed on the website failed.
"We urged the PM to take appropriate action immediately against Mahathera to stop his dubious activities in the name of social service. He has written one book as a tribute to Bongkot Sitthipol, the founder-president of International Meditation Centers at Thailand. We suspect he used the fake messages to get donations and funds from abroad. He is close to foreign consulates of many South-East Asian countries and the books have made their way abroad too," Bhikkhu said.
The CBI spokesperson said the motive is still to be ascertained.
"The case is under investigation and no chargesheet has been filed yet," Bhal said.
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