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  Finally, 'Godman' in Police Custody

Express Buzz
January 6, 2010

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/print.aspx?artid=aRC9KyA4acY=

India: Fake godman Dr Easwar Srikumar, who was playing hide and seek with the police for the last one month, was taken into custody in Bangalore on Tuesday and brought here. "He is being kept at an undisclosed destination and questioned," police sources said.

The saffron-robed priest, who runs Shakti Vilas Mission in Nungambakkam, was charged with rape and criminal intimidation following a complaint from 37-year-old S Hemalatha, who alleged that he sedated and raped her when she appeared for an interview at his house for the post of housekeeper in January 2007. She said the priest videographed and photographed her and threatened to publish them on the Internet if she exposed him.

Hemalatha claimed that she was sexually exploited by him for the last two years. She submitted a petition to City Police Commissioner T Rajendran on November 25, 2009, who directed the T Nagar police to file a first information report (FIR) and begin enquiry.

Hemalatha and her associates, including a driver who introduced her to the priest, were questioned and their statements recorded.

Hemalatha underwent medical tests.

When the police asked Srikumar to appear before them for inquiry, he began to play truant. A special police team was set up to nab the elusive priest, who hopped from one State to another.

Finally, his movements were traced with the help of his cell phone and the police team took him in custody in Bangalore early on Tuesday. Sources said the police had moved a petition in the court, seeking a warrant to search the priest's house and the mission premises.

 
 

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