Chennai, November 14
With the arrest of Kanchi Shankaracharya, charged with murder, gradually snowballing into a political issue, his devotees are planning to move his bail application at the Supreme Court.

As the Madras High Court adjourned the seer’s bail plea to Wednesday and he continues to be in judicial custody, the Tamil Nadu police too is planning to move court to seek police custody of the Hindu pontiff.

According to a senior state police officer, “Since he is in Vellore Central Prison, it is inconvenient for us to interrogate him. On the basis of hard evidence he have taken him in but we also need to question him.”

“Since his followers do not want him to be lodged in jail, we do not mind keeping him in one of our safe houses and in police custody. That will expedite the investigation. But there is no question of letting him out on bail because witnesses are scared of being killed,” he added.

Though the scene of action is likely to shift to Delhi with the Bharatiya Janata party and Vishwa Hindu Parishad coming out openly in support of Jayendra Saraswati and condemning the arrest, Tamil Nadu will also witness a spate of agitations.

Former Union Minister for Human Resource Development and BJP leader Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi is expected to meet Ms. Jayalalithaa here tomorrow and hold meetings with state BJP leaders and other Hindu organisations.

The VHP leader Mr. Praveen Togadia is also expected here tomorrow morning and all the Hindu organisations will begin a statewide agitation demanding the release of the Shankaracharya.

The Sankararaman murder case, in which the Shankaracharya and 14 others were arrested, was described by a Hindu organisation today as a “conspiracy by an international mercenary agency to disintegrate India”.

The Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Bhakthargal Peravai alleged here today that a meticulously planned three-layer attack had been put in place to trap the seer. The forum, which claimed to be an official representative of the Kanchi Mutt, alleged the plan ended with an international conspiracy.

Mr Venayagar Murali representing the Federation of Hindu Organisations, said the Shankaracharya was innocent and alleged that he had been framed by certain “forces within the state police which were pro-DMK” which had even succeeded in influencing the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms. J. Jayalalithaa.

He alleged that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was eyeing the wealth and property of the Kanchi Mutt and it was at the party’s behest the seer was being subjected to torture and humiliation.

Replying to a question over the power struggle in the Mutt, he said Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamigal had officially taken over and asked the devotees to remain calm and maintain paece.

Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamigal is currently performing the three-day worship at Mehboobnagar in Andhra Pradesh and is expected to return to the Mutt on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Hindu pontiff is spending most of his time in jail in meditation and ate porridge today.

According to Vellore Central Prison sources the Shankaracharya, who has been lodged in the jail since Friday morning, was in good health and ate curd rice for lunch and chapatis for dinner.

The jail administration has provided him with a new steel plate and trying to provide him all kinds of comfort keeping in mind his age and health conditions as he is diabetic. In view of the ‘Z” category of security provided to him earlier, he has been lodged alone in a cell.