BDA To Demolish Baikuntha Dham Ashram In Bhubaneswar Tomorrow

Bhubaneswar: Two days after confirming that the controversial Shree Baikuntha Dham Ashram at Ghatikia in Odisha capital had come up on government land, the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) on Thursday announce that the illegal structure would be demolished on Friday.

In an official notification on the day, the BDA said its officials along with those of General Administration department and personnel of Commissionerate Police would carry out the demolition at 8 am on Friday.

The BDA has made the announcement about the demolition through public address system. It has told the officials and inmates to vacate the campus before the demolition.

The officials from the GA department and Bhubaneswar tehsil office along the BDA’s enforcement squad had carried an assessment of the ashram on Monday following the allegation of land encroachment against its owners.

The team of officials had found that the ashram was built on an area of 0.140 acre. “The ashram is located on plot numbers 9037 and 9038. On verification, it was found to be government land,” they said.

It may be noted that a voluntary organisation had lodged a complaint at Bharatpur police station, alleging that head of the ashram Kashinath Mishra had been claiming that his son was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu in ‘Kalki Avatar.’ The controversy erupted after photographs of Mishra’s son, showing him sitting in a chair with sacred ‘Tulsi’ (basil) placed at his feet, surfaced.

The Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) has also registered a case suo motu to verify the age of the child and asked the IIC of the Khandagiri police station to submit a report on the issue within 15 days.

Following uproar over the issue, Mishra and his family including his son have absconded.