Scamster-turned-godman dodged CBI for12 yrs

70-year-old Swamy Durgesh Maharaj, one of the trustees of Manav Kalyan Ashram at Badrinath, might not even have thought that his greed to earn quick money would land him behind bars. That too after long 12 years as he managed to dodge cops for such a long time.

Clad in saffron clothes with rudraksha <g data-gr-id="28">ratnas</g> around his neck and wrists, he was apprehended on Sunday while addressing a group of followers on “how to get nirvana” at his ashram located at Badrinath Temple road in Uttarakhand.

On December 2, 2004, CBI had registered a case on a complaint received from postal department in West Bengal regarding purported issuance of 263 numbers of forged Kishan Vikas Patra (KVP) Certificates amounting to Rs 2,63,00,000 (approx)  by  three  agents of  Directorate of Small Savings.

On completion of <g data-gr-id="34">investigation</g>, a <g data-gr-id="36">chargesheet</g> was filed against <g data-gr-id="37">Durjodhan</g> Mishra alias Swamy Durgesh Maharaj of Directorate of Small Savings and then Postal Assistant (In-charge) of Govinda Khatik Road Sub Post-Office Achintya Kumar Roy in Kolkata. However, during the course of investigation Achintya expired on January 12, 2013.

Sensing his imminent arrest, <g data-gr-id="29">Durjodhan</g> alias Swamy Durgesh Maharaj absconded since <g data-gr-id="41">September,</g> 2003 even before CBI named him in their charge-sheet. On June 17, 2005, while the investigation of <g data-gr-id="40">case</g> was in progress, CBI also declared a reward of Rs 50,000 for furnishing information leading to Swamy ’s arrest.

Later, on September 22, 2005, he was declared Proclaimed Offender by the Court of Special Judge in Kolkata. Finally, the sleuths heaved a sigh of relief when they got a tip-off that his family members and relatives are residing at Bikaner and Jodhpur in Rajasthan.

Local enquiry at Jodhpur revealed that his wife was staying there since <g data-gr-id="31">2006</g> but her husband never visited their address at Jodhpur. It was found that calls used to be received on every night in the phone of his wife were from two particular phone numbers of Badrinath in Uttrakhand.

While going through the call details, it was found that the service of two mobile phone numbers <g data-gr-id="44">were</g> availed in the name of two different persons and the Swamy ji was allegedly using the said two phone numbers from Badrinath. However, despite having leads, the CBI officers were wary to arrest him considering his several disciples. CBI grew suspicion and put both the phone numbers under surveillance for quite some time and came to know it was the same person who had committed crime by issuing forged KVP Certificates in Kolkata 12-years ago. Loaded with sufficient <g data-gr-id="42">evidences</g>, a team was formed who raided his ashram and picked him.