used to sign all the expense cheques for the trust at first [but] now the authority was taken away from him and he was not happy with the way things had shaped out. He had given these people shelter and now they had no time for him ... they had no use for an old man any more.' An uneasy silence always follows questions about Shankar Dev among Kankhal residents. People always ask, 'Can I trust you? Are you writing for him or against him? You see, Ramdev has become too powerful. And look whathappened to his guru ...' After his pit stop at the House of Commons, Ramdev continued his tour, travelling to Glasgow then back to London, and finally ending his tour in Coventry on 8 August 2007. When he returned to India, more than three weeks had passed since Shankar Dev's disappearance. To outside observers it seemed as though Ramdev was too busy chasing fame and fortune, making them wonder: did he even care? After his return, Ramdev summoned a press connference in Haridwar, remembers the Jansatta reporter and Haridwar resident Sunil Pandey. At the press conference he was saying how Shankar Dev was like a father to him and how sad it was ... I asked him that if he really was like a father to him, why –didn‗t he come back? ―I was in the US, conducting camps, answered Ramdev. ― Well, if a family member disappeared, one would come back, isn‗t it?‗Pandey pressed Ramdev. If I knew he was alive, I would have,‗ replied Ramdev. 'So you are admitting that you know that he is dead?‗ demanded Pandey. That was the suspicion in everyone's minds. Stunned, realizing he had misspoken, Ramdev fell silent. Then his people just took over and changed the CS (OS) 27/2019 Page 28 of 76

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