Mutt and not ‘mutt’ head was the target

DHNS

• Art of firing

Bangalore, 06 June 2010: The mysterious bullet that shattered the peace at Art of Living Centre abode of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on May 30 was actually aimed at stray dogs, according to the Karnataka police.

The police, probing the firing that was feared to be an assassination bid on Ravi Shankar, found that the bullet was from a licensed .32 mm revolver belonging to Dr Mahadev Prasad, chairman of Dr Ambedkar College in the city. Prasad has a farm adjacent to the AoL ashram on Kanakapura Road, from where he had fired the bullet to fend off stray dogs. Police found this after collecting information about owners of the surrounding lands and those who possessed .32 licensed weapons. “He (Prasad) had fired two rounds from his licenced .32 mm revolver. One of the bullets lost velocity and settled at the ashram,” Director General & Inspector General of Police Ajai Kumar Singh told reporters here on Saturday.

On May 30, Prasad was about to wind up his routine visit to the farm where he breeds livestock, when he found dogs near the poultry shed. “I saw a few stray dogs heading towards my small poultry shed that houses about 14 chickens between 5:30 pm and 6 pm on May 30, when we were about to leave for Bangalore in a car. They had attacked a chicken a few days ago. So I fired at them to scare them away,” he told Deccan Herald.
When Prasad saw media reports the next day about the AoL firing, little did he suspect that it was his bullet that had caused the flutter.

“I saw media reports the next day that an unknown person might have attempted to assassinate Guruji. I didn’t know then that it was my bullet that had created flutters. Hence, I kept quiet.” It was only by June 1 evening that he pieced things together.

According to Singh, Prasad didn’t intend to kill anyone. “Moreover, the ashram could not be seen from the farm house. The recovered bullet was tallied with the one in Dr Prasad’s calibre pistol and both were found to be of the same make,” he explained.
The probe result puts to rest the theories that abounded, post the firing. It was alleged by a section of the media that the incident is a self-staged drama by the spiritual leader to gain publicity. It was also presumed that the firing could be the result of a rivalry between two of his disciples.

A stray theory of land grabbing was as well doing rounds.

Ravi Shankar seemed a repository of grace and peace once again as he said he was forced to conclude that he might be the target since the firing took place in his presence. Denying the allegations, he said: “We never want publicity in this fashion. We never yearn for enhancement of security. In fact, the incident is a welcome one when many people are looking at pontiffs and gurujis suspiciously.”

Thanks to the firing, Ravi Shankar claims his ‘missionary work to propagate peace’ has got a boost. As many as 17 Naxals from Bihar and Jarkhand visited the AoL since last week with the resolve to quit violence, he claims. “It’s time we forgot about one bullet and concentrated on serious bullets on the red corridor of India,” he said. He even claimed he asked the Naxals to convince their leader, Kishenji, to come down for talks.
The Centre, losing sleep over the recent series of bloody attacks by Naxals, can now breathe easy.