Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati, accused of sexually harassing several female students at a Delhi institute, had forged visiting cards for BRICS and the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the investigation has revealed.
In one of the visiting cards, Saraswati identified himself as a ‘BRICS Commission Member’ and a ‘Special Envoy from India’. In the UN visiting card, the self-styled godman described himself as a “Permanent Ambassador”, news agency IANS reported, quoting officials.
Saraswati, the former chairman of the Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management in Delhi, was arrested from Agra in the wee hours of Sunday after at least 17 students at the institute raised sexual harassment complaints against him.
He had been absconding since the Delhi police filed a case against him on August 4.
The godman is also accused of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy. In the wake of the allegations, the Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetha in Sringeri, which runs the institute, expelled him from the post.
"Multiple teams were formed to nab Saraswati. Based on inputs, we tracked him to a hotel in Agra's Taj Ganj area and caught him from there around 3.30 am on Sunday," a senior police officer said.
In their complaint, the female students alleged that Saraswati would call them to his room late at night and threaten to fail them or reduce their grades if they resisted his advances.
He is also accused of tracking women through hostel CCTV feeds, including cameras installed outside washrooms and those across the campus, directly on his phone.
The investigation has revealed that the accused allegedly used different names and particulars to operate multiple bank accounts and withdrew over Rs 50 lakh after the FIR was registered against him.