Though the two Shankaracharyas did not see eye to eye on several issues, in Sankararaman—former math associate and manager of Varadarajaperumal temple at the time of his murder on September 3—they had a common enemy. His 39 letters didn't spare either pontiff. According to the police, the original conspiracy to murder Sankararaman was hatched by Jayendra Saraswati and Ravi Subramaniam. Sundaresa Iyer was privy to these discussions. Appu figured in these discussions as someone who would arrange the men to execute the plan. Jayendra Saraswati seems to have instructed Ravi Subramaniam to brief Vijayendra about their plans and "seek his approval". What seems to have strengthened the SIT's suspicion about Vijayendra's role is that some part of the money distributed for the contract killing seems to have been drawn from the account of Sri Kamakoti Ghatikasramam Trust.This trust is controlled by Vijayendra Saraswati and his brother Raghu.
Though Appu maintains he is too well-off to risk his involvement in a murder for a few lakhs—he was arrested from his 50-acre farmhouse and is known to operate from five-star hotels while in Chennai—his role seems to have been that of a facilitator. Police say Appu has confessed that he had visited the Kanchi math 12 times in August to call on the seer. It was Appu who contracted Kadiravan for carrying out the murder. The six assassins who murdered Sankararaman on September 3 were Rajni alias Chinna, Baskar, Kumar, Anand, Ambikapati and Anil.
Appu, who earlier worked for dmk leader Arcot Veerasamy, figures in police files as an 'A-plus' kingpin with cases of extortion, murder pending in seven police stations in Chennai. Copies of threatening letters written by Sankararaman to the seer and a German revolver owned by Appu, under a Nagaland licence, were recovered from Appu's henchmen Kadiravan and Rajni.
With 24 arrests having been made in the Sankararaman murder case, the police are preparing a 400-page chargesheet. More interrogations and arrests are likely. Soon, the SIT may question Mumbai-based V. Shankar, better known as 'Bombay' Shankar. A very close associate of the math, he was the secretary of the all-India committee of the Peetarohana Swarna Jayanthi Celebrations when Saraswati celebrated the golden jubilee of his ascension as math head in March 2004. He was also on the boards of some of the trusts runs by the Kanchi math.
According to math sources, if and when Vijayendra Saraswati is arrested, a bitter power struggle is likely between several groups which will try to wrest control of the math. The buzz is that the government may be forced to take over the math and its various assets to stem the chaos that is bound to follow. A special officer may be appointed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department.
On January 2, top BJP leaders led by L.K. Advani prayed for the release of Jayendra Saraswati. Senior leaders Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj joined in. Soon, they might have to pray for Vijayendra Saraswati's release as well.
