Himachal govt freezes Karmapa trust accounts

The Himachal Pradesh government has frozen all bank accounts of the trust headed by the 17th Karmapa,Ogyen Trinley Dorje. The move follows probe into benami (proxy) land deals by the trust and seizure of foreign currency from the Karmapa’s Gyuto Monastery at Sidhbari near Dharamsala. The trust reportedly has four accounts with different banks in Kangra district.

The accounts were frozen immediately after police teams interrogated the Karmapa and obtained important documents from his aides about recent financial transactions. One of the bank accounts (number withheld) is at the Nagrota-Bhagwan branch of a leading nationalised bank. This account has transactions of more than Rs 6 crore in the last four to five years. Sources said it was opened without proper verification.

Director General of Police D S Manhas said,“The police have acquired information about the bank accounts and transactions running into crores.”

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Sources said the police are examining data on a computer that was recovered from the monastery after the raids and also different SIM cards. Some records of land and financial transaction in the possession of the police,Intelligence Bureau,RAW and Enforcement Directorate are said to be quite incriminating in nature.

The Karmapa’s adviser Karma Topden,however,continued denying allegations of improper land deals.