New Delhi: Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati, former chairman of the Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management Research in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, has been arrested from Agra in Uttar Pradesh.
He was absconding since August after multiple FIRs were registered against him. Saraswati faces allegations ranging from mass molestation of female students to financial irregularities involving a trust worth Rs 122 crore.
A mass molestation case was registered against him on August 5 by P A Murali, administrator of the Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetham, which owns the college. The six-page FIR includes statements from a 21-year-old student and references 32 other women who reportedly shared accounts of repeated harassment by the monk with the college council.
The religious organisation that heads the college (Peetham) had earlier issued a statement alleging that they had severed ties with the accused in light of the molestation complaints and for cheating the trust of crores.
The police have also booked Saraswati for using nine fake diplomatic car number plates with “UN” markings. They had frozen more than ₹8 crore across 18 bank accounts and 28 fixed deposits belonging to him.
“The complainant alleged that the accused, who was heading the college, was sexually harassing female students pursuing PGDM (Post Graduate Diploma in Management) courses under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) scholarship. During enquiry with the students, statements of 32 female students were recorded, out of which 17 alleged that they received obscene WhatsApp messages, dealt with abusive language from the accused, and experienced unwanted physical contact by the accused. The students also alleged that the women, who were serving as faculty/administrators, pressured the girls to comply with the accused’s demands,” Hindustan Times has quoted Amit Goel, DC (Southwest), Delhi Police, as saying.
Based on the statements, police lodged an FIR on charges of sexual harassment, acts insulting the modesty of a woman, and criminal intimidation.
According to the police, CCTV footage was analysed and several raids were conducted at the place of the incident as well as at the addresses of the accused.
“NVRs/hard disks were collected from the SriSIIM institute and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). Statements of 16 victims were recorded before the magistrate at Patiala House Court,” the DCP said.
Police said Saraswati was continuously changing his appearance and hideouts. More than five teams were working to trace him. DCP Goel said he was finally caught in Agra late on Saturday and is being brought to Delhi.
Saraswati has five cases lodged against him. The first case was lodged at Defence Colony in 2009, while the second was a molestation case lodged by a student in Vasant Kunj in 2016. The three other FIRs were lodged this year on charges of molestation, cheating, forgery, etc.
