New Delhi: The Centre is understood to have
given a clean chit to Tibetan spiritual leader Karmapa Ugyen Trinely Dorji in the case relating to the huge foreign
currency haul from his house saying the money had come in the
form of donations and offerings by devotees.
This was the conclusion arrived by the central government
after its agencies probed the case following the recovery of
foreign currency to the tune of Rs 7.5 crore from the Gyuto
Monastery, the transit home of the Karmapa, in Himachal
Pradesh, sources said.
"The foreign currency recovered during raids are
donations and offerings from devotees and the affairs of the
Trust backed by him are managed by the trustees. It happened
due to the callousness of his associates and lack of knowledge
of laws," a source said adding the Karmapa`s associates had
made the mistake of keeping such a huge amount of foreign
currency.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the Karmapa`s followers
today met Union Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai and apprised him
about various aspects of the case.
The delegation pleaded for the innocence of the Karmapa
and assured all cooperation from his side to the ongoing
probe.
The Home Secretary is learnt to have asked the delegation
to advise the Karmapa and his associates about the existing
laws, to hire chartered accountants to manage his funds and to
register the trust under the Foreign Contribution Regulation
Act.
Foreign currency belonging to 25 countries, including
China, was recovered by the police from the premises of the
Karmapa-backed trust and some of the trustees in the raids
that followed recovery of Rs one crore from two persons on
January 25 last, allegedly drawn from a bank at Majnoo-ka-Tila
in Delhi for a land deal.
PTI
