Indian Guru Swami Nithyananda has fled the country after being booked for criminal case linked with his ashram. Gujarat Police is trying to gather evidences against the godman and even took two of his disciples under custody.
On Wednesday, an FIR (First Information Report) was filed against the controversial swami following wrongful detention and kidnapping of children in order to gather donations from the visitors of the ashram named Yogini Sarvagyapeetham.
R V Asari, SP (Superintendent of Police), Ahmedabad Rural said, Nithyananda has left the country, and after investigation, proper channels will be utilised to bring him back. Swami Nithyananda flees India soon after a case was registered against him on account of rape in Karnataka.
Asari said ‘If required, we will go through proper channel to seek his custody from abroad.’ He added that if the godman comes back on his own ‘we will definitely arrest him’.
According to DSP (Deputy Superintendent of Police), Ahmedabad Rural, K T Kamariya, Priyatatva and Pranpriya, two of Nithyananda’s disciples were arrested on Tuesday on account of various charges including assault, kidnapping, and illegal confinement. He added that, the disciple will remain in police remand for interrogation for at least 5 days after a Rural Court ordered on Wednesday evening.
Kamariya also said that the police received a formal complaint from Janardhana Sharma following which the police is also probing the case of a missing woman (Sharma’s daughter) from Guru Nithyananda’s ashram.
According to the DSP, following complaints, two disciples were taken into custody and if the investigations tell that the swami was involved, then police will advance with a case against him. He added ‘He (Swami Nithyananda) has been mentioned as an accused in the FIR, but we still need concrete evidence to proceed against him’.
Pradipsinh Jadeja, Minister of State, said that whosoever is involved in the case will be brought to justice, telling the reporters that the DGP (Director General of Police) has asked the concerned SP to put together a team which will investigate the case in hand, in detail.
Jadeja said, ‘The DGP has directed the SP to form a team to investigate the matter in detail’ and subsequently ‘take strict action against all those involved’.
The two disciples (Sdahvis) were arrested when two children between the age of 9 and 10 years who are enrolled at the Swami’s ashram informed the police about their condition. The children said that not only they were tortured, and made to work but also kept in a flat in the city since more than 10 days illegally.
The accused people were then arrested under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 344 (Wrongful confinement for ten or more days), 365 (Kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), 502 (Sale of printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter), and 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code).
They were also charged under Sector 14 of Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.Swami Nithyananda is also booked in Karnataka over an alleged rape case. On Wednesday, the Gujarat High Court issued notices to both the godman and the state government after a plea was filed by a man who seeks custody of his 2 daughters that are being ‘detained’ at his ashram in Ahmedabad.
