Foreign currency seized from monastery

PTI Policemen carry a seized trunk containing foreign currency notes from the Gyuto Monastery at Sidhbari, Dharamsala, on Friday.

Police claimed to have seized foreign currency valued at over Rs. 6 crore during raids on the offices of a trust backed by 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje.

Himachal Pradesh ADGP (Law and Order) S.R. Mardi said huge sums of money in currencies of 25 countries, including China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the U.K., the U.S., Australia, Thailand, Vietnam and Germany, were seized.

DGP D.S. Minhas said many land deal documents were also found and a probe was on whether these were part of benami deals. Some travellers\' cheques were also found.

The Karmapa, who had fled to India on January 5, 2000 from China as a 14-year-old boy, may be questioned if needed, Mr. Minhas said. He has been living in Dharamsala ever since.

Although Dorje is widely called the Karmapa, officials said that he was one of the four contenders to the seat of Karmapa. The Dalai Lama had also recognised him as 'Karmapa,\' a Buddhist seat that carries forward Tibetan activities.

Evidence emerging during investigation indicated that the currencies of China, Japan, the U.S., the U.K, Australia, Thailand and several other countries recovered from the Gyuto Monastery in Dharamsala have come from Chinese sources.

The official sources said the Karmapa\'s personal secretary Tsering, who is also the secretary of the monastery, was called back here from Dehra Dun. His office and residence have already been sealed by the police. Rabgyal Soshing alias Shakti Lama, a key functionary of the Karma Garchen Trust, was arrested on Thursday


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