Source: Yahoo! News
Wire Service: AFP
On January 21, 2005 Agence France-Presse reported, "One of India's top Hindu pontiffs, Jayendra Saraswathi, has been formally charged with conspiracy to murder, as has his deputy, Vijayendra Saraswathi, investigators said.
More than 20 people are already in custody in connection with the murder of a temple worker in September.
S.P Sakthivel, chief investigation officer in the high-profile temple murder case, told reporters that a 1,873-page chargesheet had been filed in the local judicial magistrate's court.
As well as conspiracy to murder, Saraswathi and his deputy have also been charged with destroying evidence pertaining to the crime, Sakthivel said.
Jayendra Saraswathi, the most powerful of Hinduism's four chief priests, spent two months in detention on suspicion of murder, criminal conspiracy and suppression of evidence over the death of his one-time aide."