Lucknow: Almost three months after releasing its first list of ‘fake babas’, All India Akhada Parishad, the apex body of sadhus has released a second list of ‘fake’ godmen after a meeting in Allahabad. Friday’s meeting was called to review the Kumbh preparations.
Names of three people, Sachidanand Saraswati, Trikal Bhawanta and Virendra Dev Dixit were added in the second list.
The list comes days after police raided the ashrams of Virenda Dev Dixit in Delhi and other parts of north India after a number of women alleged sexual exploitation at the ashrams. Last week, UP Police raided the ashrams of the spiritual leader in Farrukhabad and had rescued more than 50 girls, including minors, from the two ashrams there.
The police also discovered some secret chambers below the ashram’s floor that was being used to confine girls after intoxicating them with drugs.
Irked by the controversies surrounding self-styled godmen, the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, had released its first list of 14 ‘fake babas’ on September 10 and demanded a crackdown on ‘rootless cult leaders’ by legislation.
The first list issued by the Akhada Parishad included the names of convicted godmen Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, Rampal, Asaram and his son Narayan Sai. The Parishad's president Swami Narendra Giri had said, “We appeal to the common people to beware of such charlatans who belong to no tradition and by their questionable acts, bring disrepute to sadhus and sanyasis.”
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