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NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 26, 2004: India’s prime minister has urged authorities to ensure a top Hindu cleric suspected in a murder case is treated well in custody and says “extreme care and consideration” must be taken in investigating the charge. Police arrested Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, the most respected Hindu cleric in southern India, on Nov. 11 for his suspected involvement in the slaying of Sankararaman, who worked at Jayendra’s monastery in Tamil Nadu state and had allegedly complained to the cleric about misuse of monastery funds. Jayendra’s lawyers have denied the charges. “An investigation involving a person of his eminence needs to be conducted with extreme care and consideration,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was quoted as saying in a letter to Tamil Nadu state’s Chief Minister. J. Jayalalithaa. The state government should “take all such measures as appropriate to ensure (Jayendra’s) physical well being,” Singh said in the letter released by the Press Information Bureau Thursday. “His Holiness…enjoys a high religious status and position in society. The sentiments of many individuals are closely associated with His Holiness’ well-being,” Singh said in his letter. (HPI adds: It is highly unusual for the Prime Minister to issue such a comment on a criminal case.)

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