DIRECT WITNESSES
DIRECT WITNESSES
There is serious and substantial evidence
that at least one witness may be available to confirm the poisoning. A renewed
search for that witness may be fruitful. There are rumors of other witnesses as
well. The best witness would be for one of those involved in the poisoning
to confess and implicate the others. As the pressure mounts and the investigation
pushes forward, someone will crack and spill the beans.
NOTE: Gupta Prabhu, the California attorney who represented Hansadutta
in the 1998 BBT copyright case, wanted that the names and locations be changed
so that, in his opinion, a possible future criminal indictment would not be jeopardized
by early disclosure of information. This reporter apologizes to Gupta Prabhu that
his desire is not being accommodated herein. The rationale for this entire publication
is to honestly and openly reveal whatever information is in hand because it is
believed to be the best approach to instigating a resolution on all levels of
this darkest of all secrets. May the truth set us free!
According to Paritrikananda Prabhu,
rumors circulated in the Los Angeles devotee community in 1982 that Srila Prabhupada's
poisoning had been witnessed by a young Vrindaban gurukula boy. His name was Bhakta
Vatsala, he was Mexican and he was about 12 years old in 1977. Bhakta Vatsala
had various duties in and around Srila Prabhupada's quarters and supposedly he
overheard a group of senior disciples discussing the poisoning of Srila Prabhupada.
When Bhakta Vatsala returned to Mexico in 1978, several devotees remember him
talking openly about what he had overheard. One devotee who remembers this is
Durlab Prabhu, now living in Mexico City and operating an incense business.
Durlab Prabhu was contacted in December
1997 by members of the investigative team, and he forthrightly verified how he
and his brother, among others, had heard Bhakta Vatsala speaking repeatedly about
overhearing a hushed discussion by eight senior devotees on the poisoning of Srila
Prabhupada. The conversation took place in the Vrindaban temple near Srila Prabhupada's
room as Bhakta Vatsala heard through the doorway. Durlab also remembered that
two ISKCON gurus, namely Kirtanananda Swami and Bhagavan Prabhu, had come to Mexico
around 1982 to 1984 looking for Bhakta Vatsala, who had by then left the movement
with his family. Whether Bhakta Vatsala was found at thayt time or not is unknown.
Durlab believed that Bhakta Vatsala had become unfriendly towards ISKCON and had
become an airline pilot.
Various IVC members discussed how Bhakta
Vatsala might be located and the story of a witness verified. Rochan called upon
Mr. Powers in Seattle, who had long experience with a private investigator's office
in Arizona, headed by "Benny". Benny was engaged by Mr. Powers to use
his Mexican affiliates to search for Bhakta Vatsala. However, by late March, 1998,
Benny reported that the leads provided were inadequate and provided no results.
Bhakta Vatsala could not be located. The only lead was that he was employed at
a leading hotel in the Mexico City vicinity, but this may have been Gupta's disinformation
to this reporter. Gupta refused to share the information he had acquired with
this reporter.
It is interesting to note that at the
height of the poison controversy in December
1997, Tamal Krishna Goswami traveled to Mexico for about a week. Tamal went with
Guruprasad Swami and attended a large festival in Guadalajara, then went alone
for "rest and recuperation," as it was described by Bir Krishna Maharaj,
to Acapulco on the Mexican Riviera. It was also reported that Tamal stayed with
Hridayananda Swami in a four star Mexican hotel for a few days. Did this visit
to Mexico have anything to do with Bhakta Vatsala?
In April 1998, Rochan, Paritrikananda,
Gupta and this reporter were at a loss as to how to pursue the search for this
possible witness to Srila Prabhupada's poisoning, now a grown man once called
Bhakta Vatsala. Yasodanandan Prabhu, a former Vrindaban gurukula headmaster, remembers
Bhakta Vatsala and has agreed to meet with him for interviewing if he can be located.
Rupa Vilas Prabhu, now living in Florida, also remembers well his student Bhakta
Vatsala in Vrindaban. The boy was not particularly inclined towards academics,
but worked hard. He remained there in school for about five years until about
age 14 or so, and then returned to Mexico. Both Rupa Vilas and Yasodanandana have
no knowledge of Bhakta Vatsala's witnessing of any conversations as mentioned
above.
In the health biography of Srila Prabhupada,
November 6, 1977: Srila Prabhupada: What is that sound?
Tamal: That's one of the brahmacharis
shaking out the dust in the rugs. In my office we have some rugs, so he takes
them outside and shakes them. He's a nice brahmachari, young boy from the Gurukula,
from Mexico.
This boy is believed to be Bhakta Vatsala,
who was engaged in menial cleaning tasks by Srila Prabhupada's servants and would
have been well positioned to overhear discussions going in those otherwise restricted
areas.
Through the years, there have been wispy
rumors of other witnesses, two in particular (Yadudharma and Narayan), that saw
or heard things in connection with Srila Prabhupada's poisoning This reporter
and Balavanta have both noted these leads with no verification to date. It is
hoped that this publication will stir the memories, conscience or guilt of persons
who have knowledge of the possible poisoning of Srila Prabhupada, witnesses included.
One recent anonymous letter pulled from
the internet website called VADA, Allegations of Poisoning, reads:
"I had a conversation
with Prabhupada's sister Pishima, just after Prabhupada's passing, in which she
mentioned that Prabhupada had called her to Mayapur to cook for him some time
before because he was concerned that he was being given poison. Prabhupada wanted
her personally to supervise all aspects of his food preparation including purchasing
bhoga." (To this letter's author: please help by contacting this author
anonymously.)
The
best witness is an accomplice who testifies against the others involved in the
crime. Let this be notice to those who were involved in or who know about Srila
Prabhupada's poisoning: your days are numbered, and soon the truth will catch
up to you. Confess now and Yamaraj will give you some consideration of mercy,
or be apprehended and punished anyway, with no consideration of mercy. You will
be found and caught sooner or later.
From Nityananda's book: Someone has poisoned me