LUCKNOW: All India Akhada Parishad, the apex body of Sadhus has released a list of ‘fake’ babas after a meeting in Allahabad on Friday. This is the second list released by the Akhad Parishad which had met for deliberations and to review the preparations for Kumbh due to take place in 2019.
While the first list of 14 was released by the Parishad in September, the current list has the names of three people, Sachidanand Saraswati, Trikal Bhawanta and Virendra Dev Dixit.
The list comes days after police raided the ashrams of Virenda Dev Dixit in national capital Delhi and other parts of north India after a number of women alleged sexual exploitation at the ashrams.
Last week, UP Police had cracked down on 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 underground chambers in the ashram that was being used to confine girls allegedly after intoxicating them with drugs.
In the wake of rising controversies surrounding self-styled godmen, the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, apart from releasing lists of fake godmen, demanded a crackdown on ‘rootless cult leaders’ by legislation as well.
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.”