Ashutosh Maharaj moves court to stop seer’s yatra in Sitapur

Prayagraj: Ashutosh Maharaj – who had earlier lodged an FIR against Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati and his disciple for allegedly sexually exploiting two minor boys at his ashram – on Monday filed another petition before the Pocso court in Prayagraj seeking a restraint order on the seer's ‘Gau Pratishtha Dharmyudh Yatra' in Sitapur.Maharaj, also one of the plaintiffs in the Krishna Janmabhoomi case of Mathura, argued that Avimukteshwaranand should be barred from reaching Sitapur as the Batuks (child students) who accused him hail from neighbouring Hardoi district and are "terrified" by news of his planned visit. After hearing the plea, the court reserved its order. Maharaj had filed the first case against Avimukteshwaranand in the same court, following which the Pocso court on Feb 21 directed Jhunsi police to lodge an FIR. Challenging this order, Avimukteshwaranand moved the Allahabad high court, which on Feb 27 stayed his arrest and granted interim protection from coercive action. Avimukteshwaranand later began his yatra from Kashi on March 7, demanding that the cow be declared the "mother of the nation". The yatra is scheduled to pass through Rae Bareli and Unnao before reaching Sitapur and culminating in Lucknow on March 11.