wami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati speaks to Alankar Agnihotri on the phone after the latter resigned as Bareilly City Magistrate, during the ongoing Magh Mela 2026, in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
Credit: PTI Photo
Lucknow: In a dramatic turn of events, the Uttar Pradesh government suspended Alankar Agnihotri, a senior state administrative service official, who had resigned from the service in protest on Monday against alleged ‘humiliation’ of prominent Hindu seer Swami Avimukteshwaranand, the Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth at the ongoing ‘Maagh Mela’ (an annual ritual on the bank of the Ganga in Prayagraj) and the UGC’s ‘Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Regulations 2026, on charges of ‘administrative indiscipline’ and ordered a probe into his conduct.
Agnihotri, who alleged that he was held ‘hostage’ by the district magistrate Bareilly, sat on a dharna in front of the Collectorate to protest against what he termed a ‘pre-planned conspiracy’ to suspend him after his resignation. He plans to challenge his suspension in the court.
According to the sources, Agnihotri, who was the Bareilly city magistrate, was attached with the DM office in Shamli district.
Earlier Agnihotri was served a notice by the district administration to vacate his official accommodation immediately. The officer vacated the residence in the middle of the night and drove to an undisclosed destination citing threat to his life.
Sources said that efforts were made to persuade Agnihotri to withdraw his resignation but remained adamant. He claimed that the DM held him ‘hostage’ for several hours after receiving a call from a senior official from the state capital who termed him (Agnihotri) as ‘pagal pundit’.
Bareilly DM Avinash Singh, however, rejected the allegations and said that Agnihotri had come to meet him on his own and was offered tea and sweets.
Agnihotri’s resignation evoked a mixed reaction from the political leaders and others. While the BJP leaders claimed that the official had ‘political ambitions’, the opposition came out in his support. Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mata Prasad Pandey also spoke to him.
Avimukteshwarananda, who spoke to the official, offered him a ‘big post’ in the field of religion.
Agnihotri said in his letter that the way the disciples, who included young boys and old men, of the Shankaracharya were beaten by the cops had hurt his sentiments. ‘’They were dragged by their shikha (choti, which, for the Brahmins and other Hindus, is a sacred tuft of hair kept at the crown of the head symbolizing devotion and marking adherence to Vedic traditions), which was very humiliating,’’ he said.