Bihar: Ex-DGP Pandey latest top cop to take spiritual route

Bihar’s former director general of police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey has joined the long list of his predecessors who got attracted to spiritualism during their service period and devoted themselves fully to religious pursuits after retirement in different ways

Bihar’s former director general of police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey has joined the long list of his predecessors who got attracted to spiritualism during their service period and devoted themselves fully to religious pursuits after retirement in different ways.

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Pandey, whose attempts to dabble in electoral politics from chief minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) could not materialise despite his early retirement, has turned into a religious preacher now, spending most of his rime in Ayodhya and Vrindavan. His good knowledge of Sanskrit, which he often demonstrated during his service days while delivering discourse to youth or singing bhajans, is coming handy in his new avatar.

But he is not the first state police chief to seek solace in spiritual pursuits post retirement. Former DGP Anand Shankar was a known devotee of Radha-Krishna and often joined bhajan-kirtan. After retirement, he spent a lot of time in Mathura and Barsana. In Patna also, he regularly boarded bus to reach Patna’s revered Mahavir Mandir, which is managed by another former inspector general of police Kishore Kunal, now called an Acharya.

Kunal’s quest for spiritual pursuit became apparent when he was in service and it prompted him to take early retirement. Besides being the general secretary of the Mahavir Temple trust, which he has expanded for various philanthropic activities like hospitals, orphanages etc. he has also done extensive research and written exhaustive two-volume books on the Ayodhya Ram Janbhoomi. At one point of time. he was also a negotiator in the Ayodhya dispute.

Anand Shankar’s predecessor DN Gautam, who also served as security advisor to the Jharkhand government, is also a Lord Krishna devotee and devotes most of his time delving into the ocean of spiritual knowledge. He is also a good orator and often invited to share his vast knowledge of various scriptures at public platforms. He also wrote a book ‘Naeen: The man and spirit of Vivekanand’.

Arvind Pandey, a serving IPS officer, is also known for his bhajans. His family had priests of the famed Vindhyachal Temple. Though Pandey made it to the IPS, his spiritual inclination remained intact. He also knows Ayurveda and loves learning new things about it.

However, Gupteshwar Pandey, who heads two temple trusts, Garibnath temple trust in Muzaffarpur and Hariharnath Temple trust in Sonepur, is the first DGP to become a spiritual preacher. And he says that he loves connecting with the audience. “I have no qualms in admitting that I have failed in politics. I don’t have all that politics demands and politicians need to excel. Now I have realised that God is the only thing that keeps me interested and now I have started enjoying my new innings,” he said.