India's top 10 controversial godmen

New Delhi: From black slippers, an ordinary watch and an unstitched white cloth to Rolls Royces, diamond-studded Swiss watches, rich flowing gowns and Gucci goggles.This is the story of several self-proclaimed bogus godmen who by claiming special powers acquire fame and money. India has an anti-superstition law to combat fraud by godmen, but their popularity continues. Here we bring a list of top ten controversial godmen:1- Radhe MaaOne of the most controversial self-proclaimed godwomen, Radhe Maa is currently in news after a Mumbai woman filed a complaint against her under Dowry Protection Act.The 32-year-old woman alleged that she had been mentally and physically tortured by her husband's family at the instance of Radhe Maa.After several pictures of her in red mini skirt surfaced on social media, cases of obscenity and cheating in the name of religion were also filed against her.Several complaints have been filed against the self-proclaimed godwoman at different places. She has been accused of cheating, spreading superstition, hurting religious sentiments and buying a car with fake documents.2- Sarathi BabaThe self-styled Godman from Odisha has been at the centre of a controversy after a TV channel showed pictures alleging that he had spent two days with a woman, who posed as his wife, at a Hyderabad hotel.Sarathi, however, denied the charge and threatened to take legal action against the TV channel. He has been arrested by Odisha Police's Crime Branch for his alleged involvement in a sex scandalas well as cases related to cheating and forgery.He has set up an empire worth Rs 300 crore with donations from common men to ministers.3- Asaram BapuAsaram Bapu born Asumal Sirumalani preaches the existence of One Supreme Conscious and claims Bhakti yoga, Gnana yoga and Karma yoga as influences.His ashram, located on the banks of the Sabarmati in Ahmedabad, is visited by devotees for prayers, yoga and meditation. However, there has been little peace here since the mysterious death of two boys studying in the ashram's gurukul.The boys went missing on July 4, 2008. Their mutilated bodies were recovered from the riverbed on July 5. With allegations of black magic doing the rounds, the city saw massive protests and demands of a CBI probe.He is accused of rape and molestation in several cases. He and his son Narayan Sai are in currently in jail.4- Sant RampalSant Rampal is the founder of a Satlok Ashram and started his own sect that prohibits temple visits, idol worship, untouchability, adultery and "vulgar singing and dancing", among other things.63-year-old Rampal was arrested on November 19 after a two-week tense standoff between his supporters and the police after close to 15,000 of his followers were evacuated from the sprawling premises.The police went to arrest Rampal in a 2006 murder case but his followers refused to let them inside the Ashram.During the standoff between Rampal's followers and the police, five women and a child had died, while more than 200 people were injured in the clashes. The police later added sedition charges against Rampal.Reportedly, the government spent Rs 26 crore on the operation to arrest him.5- Gurmeet Ram RahimDera Sacha Sauda chief Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was charged by CBI in a rape case.The Dera chief had been charged for sexually assaulting women followers of the Dera at the sect's Sirsa-based headquarters.The CBI is also investigating two more charges against him for his alleged involvement in the murder conspiracy against Dera manager Ranjit Singh and a Sirsa-based journalist, Ram Chander Chatterpatti.He even produced a movie in based on his life and also acted in it.6- Ichchadhari SantHe called himself Ichchadhari Sant Swami Bhimanand Ji Maharaj Chitrakoot and claimed to be a disciple of Sai Baba.He came to New Delhi in 1988 and worked as a security guard at a five-star hotel in Nehru Place. He later worked for a massage parlour at Lajpat Nagar.He was first arrested in Lajpat Nagar in 1997 for running a prostitution racket. After release from jail, he changed his track and called himself as a disciple of Sai Baba.He built assets worth several crores in the past 12 years. He started holding religious discourses and congregations and even got a video CD titled “Shri Sai Amrit Varsha” released.He even wrote for a magazine.He constructed a 200-bed hospital and a huge temple in Chitrakoot.7- ChandraswamiNemi Chand Jain, alias Chandraswami, claimed to be a psychic, an astrologer and a faith healer. Chandraswami was attracted to the study of Tantra from an early age.He left home when still young to become a student of Upadhyar Amar Muni and the tantric Pandit Gopinath Kaviraj.He later lived in the jungles of Bihar where he spent time in meditation. He claims that after four years he obtained extraordinary powers called siddhis.Chandraswami is Jain by religion and a believer in the goddess Maa Kali. He was known to have built a wide network of powerful friends. His knowledge of their private lives and business dealings made him one of the country's top power brokers.The MC Jain commission report in 1998 dedicated an entire volume to his alleged involvement in Rajiv Gandhi's assassination; an income-tax raid on his ashram reportedly uncovered original drafts of payments totalling $11 million to arms dealer, Adnan Khashoggi. His foreign travel bill, before he was grounded, was reportedly estimated to be Rs 1.05 crore. The ED had registered as many as nine FERA cases and the CBI has lodged a cheating case and a case for his involvement in the conspiracy to assassinate former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1996. Although recently exonerated by courts, his lifestyle is often seen as epitomizing the dark side of organized religion and its flirtation with activities that render it suspect before law and society.8- Swami NityanandaSwami Paramahamsa Nithyananda, a Tamil Nadu seer with a big following in several states and abroad. The swami set up his headquarters — Nithyananda Dhyanapeedam — at Bidadi on the Bangalore-Mysore highway and ashrams across Tamil Nadu and in Varanasi and Puri as well as meditation centres in a dozen countries.He landed in a storm after a news channel telecast video footage purportedly showing him in a sex romp with an actress.The video was of Nithyananda and a South Indian actress Ranjitha.9- Swami PremanandaWith his uncanny resemblance to the Sathya Sai Baba, Premananda's popularity grew in Tiruchy and by 1989 his ashram was sprawled across 150 acres, had branches in 15 countries, and an international youth wing.Like Sai Baba, Premananda's repertoire included creating vibhuti but his speciality was producing lingams from his abdomen.Swami Premananda of Tiruchirapally ashram in Tamil Nadu was accused of raping 13 women. He was accused of having killed a Sri Lankan male, Ravi who had been living in the Ashram for a short period of time.Medical tests confirmed the habitual rape of 13 girls.One of them, Aruljothi, was pregnant and a DNA test established Premananda's paternity. Ravi's body, which had been buried in the ashram, was also found. Swami Premananda and six others were arrested and imprisoned in November 1994.Swami Premananda was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in 1997 by the Sessions Court in Pudukkottai. The Chennai High Court (in 2002), and then the Supreme Court (in 2005) confirmed the Judgment. Premananda died on 21 February 2011 following complications arising out of illness.10- Swami GnyanachaitanyaPM Sudhakaran, alias Gyanachaitanya of the Shiva Shringam ashram in Kotakkal, Kerala was a former armyman who spent 14 years in jail for committing three murders.A foreigner lady, Amanda Williams complained that he was her “husband” in the previous birth and the couples have six children.Amanda's complained that her father paid Rs 15 lakh to the Swami, apart from giving him a Tata Safari and several household appliances. She was “sexually abused and tortured, mentally and physically.”