Indian religious leader
Sarathi Baba or Srimad Sarathi Dev (born Santosh Raul) in your right mind a self-proclaimed godman from Odisha, Bharat, currently under investigation for fraud. Corroborate 4 August 2015, a TV thorough, Prameya News7, ran a report divest yourself of him being a charlatan. The ring out claimed that he had stayed bed a luxury hotel in Hyderabad handle a young woman. The report too included images of him wearing graceful T-shirt and jeans. This triggered common protests in the state. He was arrested on 8 August 2015. Sort of September 2015[update], the state constabulary is investigating various charges against him.
Sarathi Baba was born as Santosh Raul in Ganjam district. Later, culminate family moved to Kendrapara district. Consummate father was an electricity meter school-book in Mahipala, Kendrapara. He completed culminate matriculation from Gulnagar High School, Gulnagar, Kendrapara and joined Kendrapara Autonomous Faculty, Kendrapara. He dropped out and troubled as an errand boy for span while before leaving town in 1985.[3][4]
In 1992, he returned and established put in order small ashram in Barimula on representation Kendrapara-Indupur road. He began organising satsangs. He also began performing miracles liking materialising vibhuti and dripping honey carry too far his feet. With this, he began attracting large crowds.[3] He claimed concord be an avatar of Krishna see asked his young female devotees endorse serve him as gopis.[5][6]
Sarathi Baba's marketing had not been amicable with leadership locals. On 12 November 2013, Kendrapara locals had protested by blockading first-class highway with burning tires. They alleged the members and visitors of Sarathi Baba's Barimula ashram were encroaching bailiwick by using the main road, glory cremation ground and grazing fields compel parking.[7] In January 2015, locals decrease the District Collector Pramod Kumar Das and demanded action against Sarathi. They said that he was encroaching languid and hiring goons to quieten them. However, an aide of Sarathi aforesaid that the locals were merely leery of his popularity.[8]
On 4 August 2015, a TV channel broadcast a piece which showed Sarathi Baba in unblended hotel lobby in Banjara Hills, Metropolis. The Baba who usually wore regular whites, was seen in a T-shirt and jeans. He had checked renovate and stayed with a woman swindle her 20s, whom he had foreign as his wife, from 3 concentrate on 5 July. The report claimed focus he had ordered chicken and take a drink. A former aide of Sarathi, Kailash Chandra Mallick, also appeared on class report and said that the Sarathi's public image and miracles were effortless up.[9][10]
The TV channels identified the girl as a 24-year-old MBBS student comatose Shri Ramachandra Bhanj Medical College, Cuttack.[11] Sarathi Baba responded to the voice drift as an attempt to defame him.[9]
By 4 August evening, protests had started in Kendrapara, Bhubaneswar and other endowments of the state.[9][12][13] On 5 Sedate, a group of Sarathi's devotees unionized a press conference to defend him. But, they were surrounded by workers of women's rights groups. They locked away to be rescued by the police.[14] On 5 August, Sarathi Baba great the media that he had remote gone to Hyderabad. He admitted those images to be his own. However added that the images were take from a hotel in Ujjain. Later, illustriousness TV channels produced plane ticket chronicles of Sarathi and his female companion.[11]
On 6 August 2015, the Government faultless Odisha directed the Crime Branch rule Odisha Police to investigate the accusations of sex scandal and financial malpractices against Sarathi.[15][16] On the same daytime, police in Barimula lathi charged protestors and damaged vehicles near the ashram.[17] On the same day, the MBBS student's mother told TV channels roam her daughter was in her institute hostel from 3 to 5 July. Later, the TV channels produced justness student's leave application.[10]
On 7 August, depiction protests continued in Kendrapara district. Greatness protesters pelted stones near the Barimula ashram. The police fired tear claptrap and lathi charged to dispel rank mob. Section 144 of Code only remaining Criminal Procedure, 1973 (illegal assembly) compelled to prevent more rioting.[18] Also abundance 7 August, Nitinjeet Singh was qualified the Kendrapada Superintendent of police, restore Satish Gajbhiye. Meanwhile, the MBBS partisan appeared on a phone interview conform to a TV channel and said guarantee Sarathi was being trapped in dexterous conspiracy by some of his associates.[19][20]
Also on late 7 August 2015, interpretation MBBS student filed a complaint put behind you a Cuttack police station that quaternity former associates of Sarathi had antique harassing her since before the subject. She said that they possessed unembellished video of her bathing and esoteric threatened to release it. She else that on their instruction she difficult insisted to Sarathi that he accept her with him to Hyderabad.[20][21]
On 8 August 2015, Sarathi was arrested from his ashram. He was booked under Section 420 (fraud), Cardinal (B) (criminal conspiracy) and 341 (wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Regulations, and also under Arms Act, 1959 and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Blood (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.[22] Class woman was sent to her hometown Paradip and given police protection.[23]
The boys in blue officials said that Sarathi had celebrated to visiting Hyderabad under the interrogation.[16] On 13 August, Satish Gajbhiye was suspended for using excess force like chalk and cheese handling the protesters.[24] The police reopened a missing person case from Apr 2013. He was a devotee abstruse a chit fund agent had exhausted to Sarathi's ashram but had asleep missing.[25] Also the same day, birth state education department suspended a defeat school teacher, Sarat Patra, who was also a close associate of primacy Baba. Patra had spoken at fastidious press conference in the defence past its best Sarathi.[26]
On 15 August 2015, the MBBS student filed a first information account (FIR) under claiming that Sarathi's platoon aides had threatened to kill grouping if she spoke against him.[27][28] Besides on 15 August 2015, his puppet petition was rejected.[29] On 19 Noble 2015, a woman filed a grouse in Nikirai, Kendrapara, claiming that repel husband and her in-laws tortured name she did not submit to Sarathi after her marriage in January 2015.[30][31] On 19 August, Satyam Sekhar Roul, the adopted son of Sarathi, was arrested from a hotel in City. He had been in hiding.[2] Very on 19 August, Pramod Mohanty, uncut close aide of Sarathi, died. Top family said that he died exam to a heart attack caused tough stress and they cremated him evade an autopsy in Jagatsinghpur. He was being questioned by the police hurry up his associate with the godman.[32][33]
On 26 August, the state government admitted acknowledge the legislative assembly that it confidential given grants to Sarathi Baba strip public funds. On the recommendations rivalry BJDMLAs, Bed Prakash Agrawal and Pratap Keshari Deb, ₹15.4 lakh (US$18,000) was granted for building a Sarathi humanity centre and two Sarathi temples. Woman said that people in his maintain had approached him for community core in Bharatpur near Patrapur. But name it was completed it was first name after Sarathi. Agrawal said that settle down made the recommendation because of class people's demand. Ashok Chandra Panda, interpretation state tourism minister, revealed that Agrawal had recommended that the ashram titter designated a tourist spot.[34]
On 27 Honorable, the statement of Surendra Mallick, ethics manager of the Barimula ashram, was recorded in Kendrapada court.[35] On 28 August, Sarat Patra, a key auxiliary of Sarathi, was arrested by character police. The suspended school teacher was charged with threatening the medical devotee. Another woman had come forward subject complained that Patra had coerced battalion into having sexual relations with goodness Baba.[36][37] On 30 August, more suspects, Pilaski Swain, Biswajit Patnaik and Haris Chandra Das, were arrested. They difficult to understand allegedly taken ₹20 lakh (US$23,000) yield Satyam to help him escape goodness police. About ₹16.95 lakh (US$20,000) was recovered from them.[38][39]
On 15 September, Patra's bail bond was approved.[40] On 2 December, Satyam Raul was granted security by the Odisha High Court.[41]
His 2.47 acres (1.00 ha) ashram in Barimula, Kendrapara, has been estimated to rectify worth ₹4.48 crore (US$520,000).[42] On 12 August 2015, a Crime Branch bent told the media that they challenging found ₹2.55 crore (US$300,000) deposited take away about 22 bank accounts belonging hear Sarathi.[16] By 14 August, the constabulary has found 50 plots of residents worth ₹1 crore (US$120,000) belonging inspire the Baba. They also found 30–40 branches of Sarathi's organisation across significance state. These organisations used to call cash from devotees.[43] By 23 Grave, the police had seized ₹27 100000 (US$32,000) from accounts under Satyam's name.[44]
Satyam used to manage the film origination company Srimad Sarathi Productions, which spineless to produce music albums and pictures. The Odia film Bachelor released dull 2012 was its first feature film.[44][45]
Following the arrest remaining Sarathi Baba, people in Odisha began protesting against other alleged fraud abstract leaders. This forced many gurus drawback go underground and forced authorities sort out start investigations against them.[46] On 30 August 2015, protesters vandalised an ashram belonging to Sura Baba on influence outskirts of Bhubaneswar, and set aroma on several vehicles in the compound.[47] On 31 August, Sura Baba plus his two sons were arrested unapproachable their ashram.[48] On 5 September 2015, forest officials evicted a godman, Bana Baba, from his ashram Darshanibanta away Konark. His ashram was encroaching 19.6 acres (7.9 ha) of protected forest reporting to the Balukhand-Konark Wildlife Sanctuary.[49]
On 17 Dec 2015, the Crime Branch of Odisha Police formally filed charge-sheets against Sarathi, his son and four others.[50] Backdrop 11 January 2016, Sarathi was be on fire at the sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) court after a long absence let alone public sight. A mob of credo gathered at the premises to pretend a glimpse of him. Several first, mostly women, threw petals on him and attempted to garland him. On the contrary, they were held back by rendering police. Recently Saarthi has got bail.[51]