Police on Thursday detained two persons from Sindhuli-based ashram of Ram Bahadur Bomjan in connection with the disappearance of Bomjan’s followers.
The arrests were made after the police launched investigation into the controversial cult leader’s ashram following the reports that four of Bomjan’s disciples went missing from his ashram for years.
A police team under DSP Bimal Kandel reached the ashram site at Pairey of Kamalamai Municipality-8, and arrested Indra Bahadur Syangtan alias Mahatma Guru of Makwanpur and Gopal Yonjan of Sarlahi, with the help of Sindhuli police.
Sindhuli District Police Office Chief Rameshwor Yadav informed that they have arrested two people in connection to the case and further details will be known only after the interrogation.
Central member Chatra Ghising of the Bodhi Dharma Shrawan Sangh, the non-government organisation founded by Bomjan, said the police have taken two of their members into custody for investigation.
Meanwhile, Sangh’s Central Chariman Nil Bahadur Thing said he does not know the whereabouts of Bomjan but claimed that the controversial ascetic was inside the ashram compound which spreads over 42-bighas of land. He further said the Sangh would cooperate the police in the investigations, adding that "some bigger power" was plotting to defame the ascetic, and everything will be revealed in time.
Police have been keeping Bomjan and his ashrams under close watch after relatives of Sancha Lal Waiba and three other missing nuns lodged complaints with the police that their kin have disappeared from Bomjan’s ashram.
Waiba’s son Mahendra had filed a complaint with police, saying his father had gone missing from Bomjan’s ashram. Waiba, Fulmaya Rumba, and Chunmo Dolma Tamang have been out of contact with their families for years.
Bomjan, who in 2005 earned the media moniker “Buddha Boy” for allegedly meditating for months without food, water or sleep, has been accused in the disappearance of four of his followers. He has ashrams in Bara, Sarlahi, Sindhupalchok and Sindhuli districts.
Earlier on Friday, police raided and sealed the ashram of the controversial ascetic Ram Bahadur Bomjan in the forest of Indrawati Rural Municipality in Sindhupalchok. A security source said the salt packets were recovered on Friday evening while they found coals during another search operation on Saturday.
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