CNP officials release Swami Krishna

 JUL 23 - The Chitwan National Park (CNP) authorities have freed Swami Krishna Prapannacharya who 

was held on July 14 for encroaching the park area.

One of the disciples of self-styled holy man Kamalnayanacharya, Swami Krishna was freed from custody on Friday after Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker from Chitwan Gita Wagle agreed to present him at the CNP office to help in the ongoing investigation regarding encroachment of the park property, said CNP Chief Conservation Officer Kamal Jung Kunwar.

As agreed, Swami Krishna was presented before the CNP office at Kasara on Wednesday. He was instructed to reappear at the office on 31 July. Swami Krishna, who heads the Gajendramoksha Dham run under a trust owned by S Kamalnayanacharya, was being held at the Kasara-based custody of CNP after his arrest. Lawmaker Wagle chairs the Gajendramoksha Dham which is located inside the CNP territory at Triveni.

Swami Krishna was detained after media reports shed light on the encroachment of the park area.

Located along the Narayani riverbank, the complex of Gajendramoksha Dham includes buildings for ashrams, schools and its own road network, all of them constructed by stripping the forestland owned by the CNP.

Kamalnayanacharya’s close ties with the country’s top politicians and bureaucrats had enabled him to build the facility inside the CNP territory without being prosecuted.