Shobhan Sarkar, alias 1008 Viraktanand Saraswati, aka Suryabhan Tiwari, has passed away at his Ashram in Shivli area of Kanpur Dehat district on Wednesday morning.
The seer had dreamt that over 1,000 tonnes of gold lay buried under the ruins of the old fort of 19th-century king Ram Baksh Singh in Daundiya Khera village of Unnao.
“Baba Shobhan Sarkar breathed his last at 5 am on Wednesday at Arogya Dham hospital in the ashram after battling ill health for past few days,” said his disciples.
The disciples of the Unnao Seer fulfilled his last wish of ‘Jal Samadhi’ in Ganga river. As per his wish, we gave Shobhan Sarkar ‘Jal Samadhi’ in the Ganga at Sunauhra Ashram in Chaubeypur area,” Mahant Gopala Nand Maharaj of Pawan Tanay Ashram told a leading daily.
BJP MLA Surendra Maithani, Abhijeet Singh Sanga and Neelima Katiyar visited ashram to pay tributes.
However, the lockdown and social distancing norms went on a toss as hundreds of followers gathered at the ashram. A large number of them headed towards Shivli Ashram on receiving news of the demise of the seer.
Police tried to stop the crowd from proceeding towards the seer’s ashram in Chaubeypur, but their efforts went in vain. Video clips of the violation went viral on social media platforms.
Seer Shobhan Sarkar
The seer had dreamt that over 1,000 tonnes of gold lay buried under the ruins of the old fort of 19th-century king Ram Baksh Singh in Daundiya Khera village of Unnao.
In October 2013, Sarkar wrote to the President, the ministry of mines and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to start excavation.
He said the ghost of Ram Baksh Singh is worried about Indian economy and wants the treasure to be used for the growth of the country.
The excavation began on October 18, 2013. On October 29, the ASI said there was no gold and stopped excavation.
In 2004, Sarkar had created a flutter by announcing that he would construct a bridge over river Ganga to connect Kanpur and Unnao, but the government constructed the bridge.
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