Devotees flock to ill
Sai Baba
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Hyderabad,
April 5: Police struggled to contain the influx of Sai Baba devotees
into Puttaparthi, as the spiritual guru remained in critical
condition for the eighth day today.
Prashanti
Nilayam, Sathya Sai Baba’s ashram in Puttaparthi, has become a nerve
centre of palace intrigues as the guru has not indicated any
successor.
His will,
kept in a Chennai bank, can be opened only 24 hours after his death,
say some ashram officials familiar with the matter.
A.N.
Safaya, the director of the Sathya Sai Baba Hospital, said the
guru’s health continued to be critical in spite of receiving CRT
treatment for his failing kidney.
A medical
bulletin reported no change in his condition since morning.
With the
numbers of devotees beginning to swell, district police have
cordoned off the hospital premises. Dignitaries have been requested
not to come to Puttaparthi.
The
Andhra Pradesh government has deputed senior doctors led by health
secretary P. V. Ramesh to oversee the ailing guru’s medical
treatment.
Hundreds
of devotees fished out a statue of local goddess Sathyamma from a
local reservoir. Some said the idol’s disappearance had caused the
Baba’s ill health.