By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, Jan 29: Indian police on Sunday asked 50 set of questions to the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje about the nearly Rs 70 million worth of foreign and Indian currencies being found in his temporary residence.
The questioning was led by Una’a Additional Superintendent of Police KG Kapoor.
Interacting with media after the questioning session, Mr Kapoor said the Tibetan religious figure denied all allegations being speculated against him in the media.
“Fifty questions were asked to the Karmapa and he denied all allegations. He said the money recovered was money given by devotees,” Kapoor said.
Kapoor further said Karmapa appeared “normal” throughout the questioning session and added that the outcome of the query would be submitted to relevant authorities for further course of action.
The police said Karmapa Lama was questioned to ascertain the sources of the money and the nature in which a huge amount was kept at the monastery.
Also in connection with the issue, Dharamsala-based Indian Businessman KP Bhardwaj, who is believed to have struck a land deal with the Karmapa’s Karma Garchen Trust, was reportedly arrested late on Saturday evening following raids conducted on his residence and hotel.
“Bhardwaj was arrested last evening as an unaccounted Rs 1 crore was seized from two of his men on Jan 25 at Mehatpur in Una district,” Inspector General of Police PL Thakur was quoted as saying by ANI.
Bhardwaj reportedly claimed that the Rs 1 crore recovered from the men was a payment made by the Karmapa’s trust to buy land near here.
Based on the clues provided by him police also arrested the manager of Ambala branch of the Corporation Bank Mr DK Dhar. He was reportedly arrested for allegedly facilitating a transaction of Rs 1 crore to Bhardwaj.
The two were on Sunday brought to the police station in Una, some 100 km from the monastery, for questioning, media reports said.
With their arrest, the number of people taken into custody has risen to five.
The police earlier on January 26 arrested two persons – Ashutosh and Sanjay – after alleged recovery of Rs 1 crore (10 million) and later detained Rabgya Choesang alias Shakti Lama, an accountant at the Karmapa’s office, who were remanded in police custody till February 5.
Following the seizure of the cash, the police extended its raid at the Gyuto Tantric Monastic University, where the Karmapa has temporarily been residing.
Following the questioning of Karmapa Lama, his office today held a press conference here.
It was presided over by Mr Karma Topden, a former Indian administrative service (IAS) officer and an advisor to the Karmpa administration; Mr Naresh Mathur, lawyer for the office of the Karmapa, and Mr Tsering Dhondup, the finance minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.
Denying allegations in media reports linking Karmapa to China, Mr Topden reiterated that the foreign currency seized by the police was offerings made by devotees all over the world, including Tibetans in Tibet and Chinese Buddhists from mainland China.
Topden said Karmapa’s connection with the Chinese government ceased completely the moment he left the Chinese-occupied Tibet and escaped into India in 2000.
He said Karmapa’s very arrival in India at the time had drawn international media attention and had exposed the “misrule of China in Tibet”.
“And that cannot be a work of a Chinese spy planted in India,” he said, referring to speculations raised by a section of the Indian media.
“He (Karmapa) has assured me he has never done anything in any way to undermine or to harm the interest of India. India is his second home. He is happy here and he looks forward to India becoming a powerful and prosperous nation. And he has no intention in any way of undermining the interest of India,” Mr Topden said.
“Karmapa is very grateful for getting refuge in India. He is grateful to the people and government of India and values his obligations towards India,” he added.
“When he came to India, his immediate act was to rush to the Dalai Lama to seek his blessings and to offer his allegiance and loyalty to the Dalai Lama as both the spiritual and temporal head of the Tibet and also give unquestioned support to his struggle for the Tibetan people,” he said.
Regarding the monastery’s financial management, he said Karmapa Lama does not “examine or personally oversee the details of the offerings” made by his devotees.
“He does not make detail inquiry about what and how much offerings are being presented to him on the throne by the devotees,” he said. “He is only concentrating on his studies and spiritual activities,” he added.
He said that the Karma Garchen Trust was constituted to support the charitable activities of the Karmapa and that there was “not a single rupee unaccounted for” in the monastery’s fund.
Regarding the ongoing investigation, he said all the concerned people from the administration had been giving full cooperation.
“Investigation is going on and questions are being asked, and full cooperation is being given by all the concerned people. Karmapa himself has given his full cooperation in this,” he said.
“We believe the investigation is thorough and is being carried out to its fullest satisfaction,” he added.
Addressing the media, Mr Mathur, who is a senior advocate of the Indian Supreme Court, questioned the legitimacy and the nature in which the police investigation has been carried out at the office of Karmapa.
“Record clearly shows that there is consistent effort from the Karmapa’s office to get the cash under the investigation to get legitimized,” he said, defending the huge cash haul from various countries.
“If the administration was intending any fraud, they would have converted all money into Indian money and put it in banks. They wanted to take permission from the government under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act,” Mathur said.
He, however, said the Karmapa administration could possibly face prosecution under the Enforcement Directorate and income tax department on the nature in which huge cash haul was kept at the monastery.
About the arrest of Choesang (Shakti Lama), Mathur said he would possibly be released on bail soon, saying there are legally no direct charges against him.
Karmapa’s office also clarified that no “house arrest” or curbs have been imposed on the public audience of the Tibetan spiritual leader as stated by media reports. It said the routine public audience would continue as usual.
On Saturday, even as police conducted raids and investigation into the financial matters for the third consecutive day, large groups of devotees, consisting mainly of foreigners and non-Tibetan followers from the Himalayan region, gathered for his audience.
The devotees were seen making offerings as they sought Karmapa’s blessings.
