Godman accused of harassment taken to campus again; porn material seized

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Wednesday took self-styled godman Chaitanyanand Saraswati, accused of sexually harassing 17 students of a private institute here, to the campus for the second time and seized “pornographic” material, a senior officer of the force, who is privy to the investigation, said.

Police have also found “lewd” chats on Saraswati’s (62) phone with multiple unidentified women. During one of those conversations that took place just days before his arrest, he allegedly asked a woman, “One Dubai sheikh wants a sex partner, do you have any nice friend?” Saraswati was taken to the institute again on Wednesday. Police carried out a fresh search of the premises occupied by the self-styled godman for an hour and a half.

On Monday, police had taken Saraswati to the campus of the management institute to identify the locations where he allegedly targeted his victims.

“Police have seized a sex toy and five CDs purportedly carrying pornographic material from his room. Three forged photos purportedly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former United States president Barack Obama and a leader from the United Kingdom have also been seized,” the officer added. Police teams have also visited Bageshwar, Almora and other places, where the accused stayed when he was on the run, for corroboration.

The chat records found on his phone showed that the accused called the women “baby doll” multiple times.

Saraswati was arrested from Agra on Sunday after being on the run for days. He has been confronted with three of his female aides -- three sisters who allegedly threatened the victims and forced them to delete his lewd messages from their phones.

Saraswati had secretly taken photos of students and staff of the institute. Photos of him with female flight stewards and screenshots of display pictures of women were also found from his phone, the officer said.

He allegedly lured women with promises of jobs as flight stewards or positions at his institute and used these pretexts to initiate conversations, the officer added.

Police said Saraswati’s office was designed to resemble a luxury suite to impress women. He gave them expensive gifts, including jewellery, and asked them to share with him photos and videos of them doing yoga.

He frequently name-dropped influential personalities to shield himself. He had even threatened police by taking the name of the chief justice of India.