Millionaire guru's body kept in FREEZER as followers argue over whether he's dead or asleep.

Shri Ashutosh Maharaj, who died of a heart attack in January leaving £100million fortune, has been kept on ice for 6 MONTHS

His followers argue over whether he is dead or just “sleeping”.

Doctors say that Shri Ashutosh Maharaj, who is in his 70s and has a £100million fortune, suffered a fatal heart attack after complaining of chest pains in January.

But his disciples at an “ashram” in the Punjab city of Jalandhar are refusing to release his body for cremation six months on.

They say that although he may be clinically dead, he is “alive spiritually” and has just gone into a deep meditative state on the “pathway to self-realisation”.

One said: “This is nothing unusual. Medical science does not understand things like yogic science.

“He is not dead. His holiness will return to life as soon as he feels it is right.

“We will preserve his body until then.”

Another added: “He has assured us he will come back.”

The guru is head of the Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan (Divine Light Awakening Mission) which has more than 30million followers devoted to achieving “world peace”.

The group owns property throughout India, the United States, South America, Australia, the Middle East and Europe, including Britain.

Disciples put the guru’s body in the freezer when it started to turn grey five days after doctors pronounced him dead.

They say this won’t harm him because he is used to the cold after spending many years meditating in sub-zero temperatures in the Himalayas.

A notice on their website says the guru is “such a divine personality” that he is making “a 

revolutionary mark in human history by awakening the dormant energy lying within human beings”.

It adds: “His Holiness has acted as a torchbearer, waking up humanity from the deep slumber of ignorance towards the resplendent light of wisdom.

“Innumerable people have witnessed his compassion for mankind and nature alike. His idea of a ‘one-world-family’ has reverberated throughout.”

But now relatives of the guru, who was married with a 40-year-old son, have had enough.

They claim the guru’s followers are just trying to keep control of his money.

So they have asked a court to investigate and order the release of his body for cremation.