Respite for Karmapa , Himachal to drop charges

Dharamsala :  The Himachal Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to drop a criminal case against the Tibetan religious head and the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, involving a case related to the seizure of unaccounted money from his monastery in Dharamsala .

The state police had charged the Karmapa with conspiracy. Nine of his followers had also been booked been under various sections of the IPC.

A senior official of the state government said the Karmapa’s name has been dropped from the chargesheet .

In Matrch this year the chief judicial magistrate of Una had ordered the Karmapa and nine others to appear in person but the Karmapa did not appear as he he was away in Bihar attending a religious gathering .

Reacting to the decision of the state government , Gonpo Tsering , an official of the Karmapa’s office said he was confident that truth would ultimately prevail .

The Karmapa’s office had requested the DM of Una district to drop the charges against the Karmapa as he was not directly involved in the incident .

The DM sent his comments to the home department after which this decsion was taken .

The 26-year-old Karmapa is the spiritual head of the Karma Kagyu school, one of the four sects of Tibetan Buddhism. He fled Tibet in 2000 and reached Dharamsala .

Over a year ago police recovered the currencies of 26 countries, including Chinese yuan and Indian currency, from his monastery in Dharmasala .

The Karmapa’s office had told investigating agencies that the money was collected in donations from followers who visit the monastery from all over the world .