posted August 08, 2002 03:37 PM            

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Patna, Aug 8 (IANS) Bihar is under pressure from the centre to drop fraud and theft charges against a jailed Sri Lankan monk and deport him to his home country.

Bhadant Wimalsara Thero, a monk associated with the Mahabodhi Society of India and a Sri Lankan monastery at Bodh Gaya, the birthplace of Buddhism some 100 km from here, has been in judicial custody since April.

Officials in the state home department said the central government wants the monk deported and the charges against him withdrawn. The home department has directed the Gaya district authorities to work out the process of deportation.

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga had in May sought Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's intervention for the monk's release. The monk's visa, which would have expired on May 20, was extended for six months after Kumaratunga's intervention, officials here said.

In a letter to Vajpayee, the Sri Lankan president had also sought an inquiry into the functioning of the Mahabodhi Society of India to know why Wimalsara Thero was arrested.

The Mahabodhi Society, which looks after the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya at the site when the Buddha attained enlightenment 2,500 years ago, has lately been in the heart of a controversy over alleged financial misappropriation.

Wimalsara Thero was arrested on charges ranging from fraud to theft. Police said while the monk's only income was a monthly stipend of Rs.800, his bank account showed transactions running into Rs.1.8 million.

They also accused the monk of impersonation as he had concealed his Sri Lankan citizenship to buy prime land at Bodh Gaya by claiming to be an Indian. The market value of the land is estimated to be about Rs.1 million.