Haridwar, Jul 28: With the CBI tightening its noose around Balkrishna charging him with cheating and forgery, yoga guru Ramdev today defended his closest aide, claiming that he is currently in Haridwar and his documents are not forged.
“Acharya Balkrishna has not gone anywhere. He is very much here. He is very much in Patanjali Ashram,” Ramdev said at a hurriedly convened press conference here.
Accusing the Centre of going soft on terrorists, the yoga teacher wondered why it was targeting Balkrishna.
“Instead of focusing on black money and corruption, the Centre is diverting all its energy on running a malicious campaign against Baba (Ramdev) and Acharya Balkrishna,” he said.
When repeatedly asked why Balkrishna was not appearing before the CBI, Ramdev said he has a lot of “great work” to do.
“He (Balrishna) is not having one work only. He is giving guidance to crores of people in Ayurveda. His contribution to Ayurveda is immense,” Ramdev said.
On Balkrishna seeking 20 days' time to appear before the CBI, the yoga guru said, “We understand that CBI must give us this much time.”
Balkrishna today sought 20 days' time to appear before the CBI for questioning in a case under the Passport Act, claiming he has applied for a UK visa and his travel document is with that mission.
On two birth certificates of Balkrishna, Ramdev said the first certificate had erroneously shown the nationality of parents of Balkrishna as Indian.
However, later, this mistake was corrected and the nationality was rightly shown as Nepalese, he said.
The yoga guru also wanted to know on what basis the CBI had issued a lookout notice and wanted cancellation of Balkrishna's passport when the investigations have not yet been completed and chargesheet is yet to be filed.
He also said Balkrishna was born in India and will remain in India till his last breath.
He also asked the media not to present Balkrishna as a criminal.
“Mere charges will not make him (Balkrishna) a criminal. Media should be careful,” he said.
Ramdev also said he is not scared of anything and reiterated his threat to raise a force of 12000 youths to launch a renewed campaign against corruption and black money.
“We will launch a renewed campaign from August 15,” he said. PTI
