Ujjain: In a bizarre turn of events, a septuagenarian Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) pensioner in Madhya Pradesh has landed in an ashram after being mistaken and detained as a beggar by the authorities, he said.
Devvrat Chaudhary, 72, a resident of Nayapura area of Indore, was detained by the authorities from the Maa Lakshmi in Rajbada and subsequently brought to the Sevadham Ashram in Ujjain by the anti-begging team of the district administration.
Narrating his ordeal, Chaudhary, a pensioner, who was detained for his detention under the Emergency-era MISA, said that for the last 15 years, he has been going to the temple of Maa Lakshmi in Rajbada area every day.
“On 15 April also, I reached the temple and was giving alms of 10 rupees to a beggar outside the temple. Then suddenly the team involved in the 'Beggar-free campaign turned up and took me along with the beggars in the car and brought me to Ujjain's Seva Dham Ashram,'' Chaudhary said.
Chaudhary claimed that he retired as a mechanical engineer before availing the MISA pension. He said has worked with social worker and Gandhian leader Vinoba Bhave. Chaudhary is not married and has been living alone.
Sudhir Goyal, Director of Seva Dham Ashram, while reacting to Chaudhary's detention at the ashram, said, ''The day he came here, his condition was not at all as he had told. But after continuous discussions with him, we came to know about him.
Chaudhary expressed his wish to stay in the ashram.
''I have not been able to meet my brothers for the last six months. Now I want to teach the children who are in the ashram and spend time with them. I am feeling very good here,” he said.
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