Barely hours after his chief secretary categorically absolved the Karmapa of any misdemeanours, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, in a most vehement U-turn, said there was no question of any clean chits to Ogyen Trinley Dorje while Central agencies were still investigating the currency seizures from his monastery.
“There is no question of giving a clean chit to anyone. Our investigation is still on, and it will be taken to a logical end. We neither have named the Karmapa as an accused nor given him a clean chit,” the chief minister told reporters in Dharamsala on Saturday.
Mr Dhumal said he was surprised to read news reports quoting chief secretary Rajwant Sandhu clearing the Karmapa’s name. “Whatever she may have said, both Central and state agencies and still investigating,” he said promising that the truth will eventually emerge.
Ms Sandhu had notably told a news conference on Friday that investigations had failed to directly link the Karmapa Lama with the foreign currency seizure and allegedly benami land deals involving his aides. Further ruling out any possibility of Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s arrest, the chief secretary declared: “he (Karmapa) is free to practice his religion, we have no problem with him.” Significantly, even the Dalai Lama, who blessed the Karmapa on his arrival at Dharamsala in 2000, has sought a thorough probe if only to clear the air and any suspicion around the Tibetan refugees in India.
Himachal DGP also confirmed that probe into the case were still underway. The officer was confident that disclosures from the probe would culminate in a trial against the guilty.