Rishikesh, Jul 23 (PTI) The Uttarakhand forest department has lodged a case against Swami Chidananda Saraswati for allegedly grabbing a piece of reserve forest land in Virpur Khurd area here and running a yoga and meditation centre, and a residential school on it.

The case was lodged against the spiritual guru under section 26 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 in compliance with a recent order of the Uttarakhand High Court, Forest Range Officer Mahendra Singh Rawat said.

Also Read | Pakistan Scuttled Consular Access For Kulbhushan Jadhav, Requested 12 Times in Past 1 Year, Says Indian Govt: Live News Breaking and Coronavirus Updates on July 23, 2020.

"Swami Chidananda had grabbed around one hectare of reserved forest land in Virpur Khurd area of the town and was running Muni Chidananda yoga centre, meditation centre and a residential school on it," Rawat who lodged the case against him said.

However, the forest department took back the land from the spiritual guru on February 10 this year, the FRO said.

Also Read | India, Israel Collaborate For 'Unprecedented' Anti-COVID-19 Cooperation Operation, Details Here.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)