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Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati was arrested in Agra for sexually harassing 17 women and committing fraud, including forging passports and claiming false ties to the PMO.
A photo of Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati (News18)
Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati, a self-styled ‘godman’ arrested for sexually harassing 17 women at a Delhi ashram, has also been found involved in multiple fraudulent activities, including forging visiting cards and passports.
During the investigation, the police found two fake visiting cards from the Baba – one identifying himself as a Permanent Ambassador of the United Nations and another as an Indian Special Envoy of the BRICS.
Police said Chaitanyananda falsely claimed ties to the Prime Minister’s Office, instructing his associates to call people and assert his PMO links to project influence and status.
DCP South West Amit Goyal said that Chaitanyananda was changing his location. “The search for him continued across several states, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. We identified and arrested him.”
Police discovered two passports allegedly obtained by Chaitanyananda using forged documents — one issued under the name Swami Partha Sarathi and the other under Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati. In the first passport, he listed his father as Swami Ghanananda Puri (matching the name on his PAN card) and his mother as Sharada Amba. The second passport named his father as Swami Dayananda Saraswati and his mother as Sharada Ambal.
While one passport listed his place of birth as Darjeeling, the second one listed it as Tamil Nadu.
Investigators also found three phones belonging to Chaitanyananda, one of which was an iPhone.
It was further revealed that Chaitanyananda had two bank accounts with the Union Bank of India – both under different names.
According to the officials, in 1998, the Delhi Lieutenant Governor had allotted a plot in Vasant Kunj to Sharada Peeth to build a ‘math’. During this time, Chaitanyananda was appointed as the ‘math’s senior official. In 2008, the Baba, in collusion with some other people, changed its name to Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management without permission. A property of the ‘math’ was also rented out without permission.
A fraud of Rs 40 crore was committed using forged documents, officials said.
Police records reveal that Chaitanyananda had evaded molestation charges in both 2009 and 2016, allegedly leveraging his influence and network to escape prosecution.
In the current case, 17 women filed complaints in Delhi in early August, prompting him to go on the run. Initially believed to be in London, he was later tracked down in Agra.
Officials said he had also stayed in Vrindavan and Mathura, hiding in religious establishments to avoid recognition, and had switched more than 15 hotels during his time on the run.
Delhi Police arrested the self-styled godman from Hotel First in Taj Ganj around 3:30 am, and brought him to Delhi’s Vasant Kunj Police Station.
The first alerts about sexual misconduct by Swami Chaitanyananda came through two letters, one posted by a student and another by an Air Force officer, received by the Peetham towards the end of July and in the first week of August, according to the FIR cited by news agency ANI.
A woman who filed a molestation case against the self-styled ‘godman’ in 2016 said he “had vulture-like eyes” on her. According to the first information report (FIR) filed by her, the woman, who was then aged 20, said she dropped out of the Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management in just eight months, NDTV reported.
“It was the most difficult period of my life. As soon as I joined the institute, Baba started sending me obscene messages. He called me “baby” and “sweet girl.” After classes ended at 6:30 pm, he would call me to his office and harass me,” she said.
After these accusations surfaced recently, the ashram administration expelled Chaitanyananda from his post.
September 28, 2025, 13:37 IST
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