NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Monday questioned Swami Chaitanyanand Saraswati in connection with the alleged molestation of 17 students of a private management institute. Saraswati, who is in a five-day police custody, was taken to the room located on the ground floor where he allegedly lured female students.
During the investigation, a victim reported that on September 14, her father received a threatening call from a person who identified himself as Hari Singh Kopkoti from Uttarakhand. He was apprehended from his residence and brought to Delhi.
The police said Hari, who works with the local municipality, came into contact with Swami in 2024 when he visited Delhi. Hari admitted contacting the complainant’s father following Saraswati’s directions and asked him to withdraw the complaint, the police said. His phone has been confiscated.
Police are likely to confront Saraswati with the three wardens who have been named in the FIR. Three mobile phones and an iPad were recovered from him, including a phone that gave him access to CCTV footage of the campus and hostels. Authorities have also frozen about `8 crore in multiple bank accounts and fixed deposits linked to him.
The Delhi Police took him into five days’ custody to confront him with the statements of victims and electronic evidence, to recover incriminating digital material, mobile phones, and deleted WhatsApp data, to identify and apprehend other associates involved in the conspiracy, to prevent further tampering with evidence and influencing/intimidating victims, etc. The police are also investigating the number of hotels he visited while he was at large.
So far, it has come to light that he was commuting between Vrindavan, Mathura, and Agra, where he was staying in budget hotels. His bank accounts are also being checked. The FIR was filed after a complaint was received on August 4 at the Vasant Kunj North police station.