Conspiracy theory - Who was behind the Indian media rumor that Seer had admitted guilt?
Balaji Reddy, Special Correspondent
November 30, 2004

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary and former union minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday claimed that Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswati has dismissed as ''blatant lie'' the media reports that the Acharya had admitted his guilt during custodial interrogation in the sensational September three Sankaranarayan murder case. Swaraj, who called on the seer at Vellore Central Prison, told newspersons that the Acharya dismissed reports in the media in this regard as ''false and baseless''.

India Daily has found out that the rumor was not true and the whole country was shocked by the report. The Tamil Nadu Government was adopting "vindictive" attitude towards Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said today. "I am shocked by his arrest on the charge of murder," she told reporters at the airport here. Asked for her comments on cases being filed against him, she said as the murder case had been "weakened" due to a key accused turning hostile, old cases were being dug up and foisted against him. She later left for Vellore to call on the Sankaracharya, who had been lodged in the Central Prison there.

Was Tamil Nadu Government or police involved in creating the rumor in the gossip world? Why was it published without confirmation from a neutral source? Why was’nt Seer interviewed?

According sources with RSS and VHS Seer is innocent and the central Government knows it well. The Tamil Nadu Government has the fullest responsibility is coming forward and tell us how and when the rumor mechanism was set in place from the police department and bunch of vague statements to a handful of selected reporters.

Appealing to the media not to come out with speculative reports, she said the media should realise that the matter involved the 2500-year-old revered institution (Kanchi mutt) and the reports should not lower the image and tradition of the mutt. Asked whether she had come down to cross-check facts with the Acharya about his alleged admission of guilt during custodial interrogation, she said: ''I have come here just to meet the Acharya.'' she claimed that the entire nation was shocked over the arrest of the seer. The senior leader said that her party would raise the arrest issue during parliament session, beginning on December one. The party would draw its strategy according to the prevailing situation in the house.

Reiterating that the cases were fabricated and foisted on the Acharya, Swaraj said that she was extremely pained over the arrest and regretted that a highly revered spiritual leader was being incarcerated.