Arun Das dies at Janapanka village while fasting for Jan Lokpal

There has been no formal notice of his death at all, and the report on the IAC update has vanished without any formal notice of why. It is sad that no one from thought to offer clarifications even though the IAC page on Facebook and @Janlokpal on Twitter both announced the death.

Update: It seems an Arun Das did indeed die. I asked around why his death had not made news, and no one seems to know anything. The photos shared originally on Picassa, I am copying here, to ensure that they remain.

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Attached here with the photogrphs of Sri Arun Das of Kamira village,District Boudh,Odisha,while on fast in near by Janapanka village since last two days supprting Anna ji’s movement expired on way to Burla Medical on dt.24/08/2011 at 8.30 am.May the departed soul rest in peace.Sri Arun Das can be seen in first photograph standing second from left,Indication(towel on right side soulder) Original Link

He was a follower of Baba Ramdev, and it was Ramdev who made the announcement of his death. Also, Baba Ramdev’s organization made an announcement.

I think the question here really is that why is this death not news, why was it announced by Baba Ramdev, then IAC on Facebook and Twitter and then silence? Why is there no confirmation or debunking by media? What really happened?

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It has been brought to my notice that what I have done is irresponsible reporting, though I was attempting to collect the various rumors that I could confirm. Please note that while this news has been announced by Baba Ramdev on the stage, this information is unverified until he is declared dead by a doctor. [Thank you Smita Prakash] Apologies. Not pulling this post in order to avoid further confusion.

I heards rumors that someone called Arun Das died an hour or two ago at Patna while fasting along with three others in support of Anna Hazare’s demand for Jan Lokpal. [earlier story was correct. Patna, not Ramlila]

From what I know, Arun Das was from Darbhanga, Bihar, fasting in support of Anna Hazare’s demand for Jan Lokpal at Ramlila Maidan Kargil Chowk, Patna for the Jan Lokpal bill along with his wife Asha Lata. He had also participated in the JP movement. Concern was first raised about his health this morning after his BP was found to be abnormally high. He died a few hours later. Details are still unclear.

The news was announced from the stage by Baba Ramdev at Ramlila Maidan, Has been updated to the IAC page and there are SMSs and tweets from various sources in Patna (of death) and Delhi (of announcement), but there is nothing in news media so far. To avoid confusion, I am collecting what I know here, till more reliable news can be found.

NOT REMOVING THIS INFO, BECAUSE IT WILL ADD TO CONFUSION, BUT PLEASE WAIT TILL CONFIRMATION FROM COPS/DOCTORS AND CONSIDER THIS A RUMOR TILL THEN.

Please note that some people are confusing this incident with that of the youth Dinesh Yadav who tried to immolate himself yesterday at Kisan Ghat. He suffered 80% burns and is battling for life at LNJP, but alive as far as we know. Dinesh Yadav was from Patna. Different people.

Avoid spreading misinformation.

Here are the initial tweets with the news. Will update this post with more confirmed news as I come to know.