An underworld don, who is serving a life sentence in the Almora district jail, was offered 'diksha' by seers in the prison premises recently to initiate him into monkhood, claimed a man who mediated between the don and the seers.

Don Prakash Pandey, also called PP, has a number of criminal cases pending against him including those of extortion, robbery and murder.

Two seers accompanied by the man who mediated between the gangster and the seer community reportedly went inside the jail premises on September 5 to perform the 'diksha' ceremony during which Pandey was offered a rudraksha garland and a sacred beads necklace (kanthi) to wear. Vedic mantras were also chanted in his ears.

The don was renamed as Prakashanand Giri by the seers who introduced themselves as being associated with the Panch Dashnam Juna Akhara, headquartered in Haridwar and has its ashrams in the Kumaon region.

After coming out of the jail complex, the seers and mediator Krishna Kandpal held a press conference at a hotel in Almora and said it was done as the man was "full of patriotic feelings" and wanted to move towards a "religious and pure life".

"When I met PP bhai, I was impressed by his patriotic spirit. He had entered Pakistan once to kill Dawood (Ibrahim). He had even entered Vietnam to kill someone else but was arrested as there was a red-corner notice issued against him. He expressed his desire to tread the spiritual path. I talked to the seers and they agreed to offer him diksha," Kandpal told reporters.

"It was a subtle diskha programme. The larger and more elaborate one will be done at Prayagraj Kumbh in 2025," he said.

The life of Prakashanand Giri could inspire others behind the bars to embrace the life of spiritualism and purity, a seer named Rajender Giri said.

Nainital MP Ajay Bhatt shied away from commenting on the incident saying he was not aware of it.

"I have no knowledge of the incident. I also do not want to comment anything on saints," he said.

When asked how authorities allowed the ceremony to be carried out in the jail premises, the former Union minister said he could comment on it only after reading the jail manual.

Meanwhile, the Panch Dashnam Juna Akhara said it would set up a seven-member committee to probe the incident.

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