Last rites of Bhaiyyuji Maharaj held
Indore, June 13: The last rites of Madhya Pradesh-based spiritual leader Bhaiyyuji Maharaj, who shot himself on Tuesday due to family tension, were held on Wednesday with his daughter Kuhu lighting the funeral pyre.
His body was brought to the cremation ground from the Suryoday Ashram, in a flower-bedecked open truck, with his followers having erected platforms on the route to pay their last respects.
Earlier this morning, the body of the model-turned-spiritual guru was taken from his residence to the ashram for people to pay their last respects. Among those who did were Union Minister Ramdas Athawale and Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde.
Bhaiyyuji Maharaj (real name Uday Rao Deshmukh), who had prominent followers from different political parties, committed suicide by shooting himself at his residence.
A suicide note mentioned that he took the extreme step due to "stress".
According to information now coming to light, there were major differences between Bhaiyyuji Maharaj's second wife Ayushi and Kuhu (from his first wife, now deceased) and this had caused tension between him and his wife. Kuhu has also blamed her stepmother for her father's suicide.
The 50-year-old guru was recently given the status of a Minister of State by the government in a controversial decision but had declined to accept it.
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Illegal sand mining has created environmental crisis in National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday said rampant illegal riverbed sand mining has created an "environmental crisis" and wreaked "havoc" in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, causing a grave risk to the gharial (long-snouted crocodile) preservation project.
Slamming the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for their utter failure in dealing with the issue, the apex court directed them to install high-resolution Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras along all routes frequently used for illegal sand mining in the area.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed that live feed of such surveillance cameras shall be placed under the direct control, supervision and operational oversight of the superintendent of police or the senior superintendent of police of the concerned district and the divisional forest officer.
It said these officers shall ensure continuous and effective monitoring of the CCTV feeds by designating appropriate officers.
"It can't be gainsaid that the issues involved are of great concern in as much as the rampant illegal mining activities in the river bed have created an environmental crisis and havoc in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary causing a grave risk to the very project of gharial preservation of which the state governments themselves were proponents and were under an obligation to foster and promote," Justice Mehta said while pronouncing the order.
The bench directed the authorities in these three states to initiate prompt and necessary action under law if any instance of illegal mining or allied activities comes to light.
It said the authorities shall ensure seizure of vehicles or machinery found involved in illegal sand mining and also initiate prosecution of persons involved in it.
The bench, which passed several other directions, posted the matter for hearing on May 11.
The top court passed the order in a suo motu case titled 'In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife'.
The National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400-sq km tri-state protected area.
Besides the endangered gharial, it is home to the red-crowned roof turtle and the endangered Ganges river Dolphin.
Located on the Chambal river near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the sanctuary was first declared a protected area in Madhya Pradesh in 1978 and now constitutes a long and narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states.
On March 13, the top court took suo motu cognisance of news reports about rampant illegal sand mining on the banks of the Chambal river.
