Rampal, Radhe Maa, Gurmeet Ram Rahim among 14 'fake babas' named by apex seers' body

With self-styled godmen/women regularly grabbing headlines in the past few weeks in relation to various criminal cases, the apex body of Hindu saints Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP)  released a list of 14 “fake babas”  and demanded a crackdown on “rootless cult leaders”.

“We appeal to the common people to beware of such charlatans who belong to no tradition and by their questionable acts, bring disrepute to sadhus and sanyasis,” the body’s president Swami Narendra Giri said.

The parishad is a council of akharas, which are monastic orders drawing their spiritual lineage from 8th-century seer Adi Shankara, who is said to have established orders of martial monks with the aim of defending the Hindu dharma, PTI reported.

“We are going to send copies of this list to the Centre, the state governments and the Opposition parties with the demand that a strong legislation be brought to check the activities of these self-styled cult leaders,” Giri said.

Here is the list of the 14 godmen/women named by ABAP:

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

The former Dera Sacha Sauda chief , who used to operate out of Sirsa in Haryana and had gained fame for his self-produced films , was recently convicted in two rape cases and sentenced by a special CBI court to 20 years’ imprisonment .

On Saturday, a search of the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters revealed a secret tunnel running from Ram Rahim ’s residence to the quarters of his female disciples, along with several illegal explosives.

The sect chief is also accused in two murder cases and a forced castration case.

Rampal

Rampal, 67, had been accused of conspiracy in an 11-year-old case after his followers had allegedly opened fire on villagers in Rohtak, killing one person. Two cases were also registered against the self-styled godman, the head of Satlok Ashram in Barwala in Hisar, in November 2014 after police discovered five bodies in his ashram, PTI  reported.

It has also been alleged that some of his followers had been held hostage in the ashram during the standoff. Rampal’s followers, during the clash with security forces, had reportedly used stones, acid and petrol bombs in their attack against security personnel.

Rampal, whose followers call him Jagatguru Rampalji, Sant Rampalji or Rampal Dasji’, is the founder and head of a religious sect called Kabir Panth, and considers himself to be an incarnation of the 15th-century poet Kabir.

Asaram Bapu

The 76-year-old Asumal Sirumalani, who goes by the name Asaram Bapu , was arrested in 2013 after a devotee accused him of raping her at his ashram in Manai, following which another follower accused him of the same. His bail pleas have been repeatedly rejected by the courts since then.

On 28 August, the Supreme Court questioned the Gujarat government over the slow pace of trial in these cases. The apex court had asked the trial court in Gujarat in April to expedite the recording of evidence of prosecution witnesses in the sexual assault case.

Narayan Sai

Son of Asaram Bapu, Narayan Sai was arrested in 2013 after two Surat-based sisters filed separate cases against him and his father, accusing them of rape and illegal confinement, among other charges.

The younger of the two sisters had accused Narayan Sai of repeated sexual assault between 2002 and 2005, when she was living at his Surat ashram.

Radhe Maa

The Punjab and Haryana High Court issued a notice on 6 September asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against the police for failing to act on a complaint against self-styled godwoman Sukhwinder Kaur, who goes by the name Radhe Maa .

A Phagwara-based man Surinder Mittal had lodged a complaint against her, seeking registration of a case in 2015 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, threatening and other offences under the IPC.

In 2015, Radhe Maa got into trouble for carrying a trident at the airport .

Swami Om

Vinodanand Jha alias Swami Om  was arrested by the Delhi Police on 9 August on charges of theft in a 9-year-old incident. Jha was declared a proclaimed offender by the Saket Court in Delhi last year in the case, the police said.

Jha shot to fame after appearing as a contestant on reaity TV show Bigg Boss, after which his actions — such as slapping a woman on camera and making bizarre claims on TV — led to several controversies.

Nirmal Baba

Nirmaljit Singh Narula, a self-styled godman from Jharkhand , used to run a TV programme called Third Eye of Nirmal Baba, where he claimed to solve people’s problems. In 2012, Lucknow Police registered a case of cheating and fraud against him in relation to his shows.

The case against Nirmal Baba was lodged based on the complaint of two children who had accused him of befooling people in the name of religion, the police said.

Through his TV show, Nirmal Baba reportedly rose to be worth Rs 200 crore , while being accused of misusing funds at the same time.

Swami Aseemanand

Jatin Chatterjee, better known as Swami Aseemanand , is an accused in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast case  who was later acquitted by a National Investigation Agency special court. Pakistan’s foreign office spokesman Nafees Zakaria had called the acquittal “ regrettable ”.

In March, a Hyderabad court also granted him bail in the 2007 Mecca Masjid bomb blast case . Nine persons were killed in the blast during Friday prayers 18 May 2007. Five persons were killed in subsequent police firing near the mosque after protests broke out after the blast.

The case, that has been linked with the 2007 Ajmer Sharif Dargah blast, 2008 Malegaon blasts, and the Samjhauta Express attack, has seen many twists and turns in the course of investigation— from witnesses turning hostile to the lack of circumstantial evidence.

A total of 68 people, mostly Pakistani nationals, were killed in the blasts in two coaches of Samjhauta Express in Panipat on 18 February 2007 whereas the blast at the shrine of Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti at Ajmer, carried out on 11 October, 2007 killed three pilgrims and left 15 others injured.

Sachidanand Giri

Sachin Dutta, who is known as Sachidanand Giri by some and Builder Baba by others, was arrested in February for allegedly duping a person of a few crores, promising high returns on investments in his housing project, The Times of India  reported.

The Telegraph  reported that Giri, who is a realtor in Noida, was close to the Samajwadi Party and was anointed Mahamandaleshwar in July 2015 by the Niranjani Akhara.

Brahaspati Giri

Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Giri had reportedly tried to gain control of temples of the Alkhnath Trust.

Ichchadhari Bhimanand

Shivmurti Dwivedi, better known as called Ichchadhari Bhimanand, arrested from his home in Chitrakoot in February 2010 on charges of running a flesh trade from his Delhi ashram, is said to have graced many akhara events, The Telegraph report said.

Acharya Kushmuni

Acharya Kushmuni Swarup is national spokesperson Akhil Bhartiya Dandi Sanyasi Prabudh Samiti, Hindustan Times  reported. After the release of this list, Kushmuni alleged most people in the akhada had criminal cases against them.

The other godmen named in the list are Malkhan Singh and Om Namah Shivay Baba, about whom very little is known.

With inputs from agencies