Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati, accused of sending lewd messages to students

Chaitanyananda Saraswati used CCTV footage to track students

According to officials, 62-year-old used CCTV footages to monitor the hostel campus and track the students. He even used to send inappropriate texts such as "Baby, I love you" and "I adore you" to the female students, and even forced them to visit his quarters. The godman even forced female students to go with him to Uttarakhand's Rishikesh under the pretext of "industrial visits".

"Multiple teams are conducting raids in different states. A lookout circular has been issued to ensure that he does not flee the country. Based on his recent foreign travel and return, Saraswati's last location was found to be in Mumbai, where a team has been dispatched. The Delhi Police has seized Saraswati's car and will check the footage of its dashcam," a Delhi Police official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

What did the victims allege?

According to the FIR, one of the victims, who joined the institute in October 2024, said the harassment began shortly afterwards. She said Saraswati first interacted with the students on December 1, 2024 at the institute's ground-floor office.

"That day, instead of motivating us, Swamiji demotivated us. He introduced a woman as an associate dean and his devotee," she said.

In the FIR, the complainant has alleged that she contacted Saraswati over WhatsApp to share her X-ray reports when she suffered a hairline fracture in her toe.

"Since then, Swamiji started sending me inappropriate messages at odd hours, saying things such as 'Baby, I love you', 'I adore you', 'You are looking beautiful today'," the complainant has alleged in the FIR.

When she ignored the messages, the accused allegedly pressured her further by involving faculty members. "Whenever I protested, Swamiji threatened me with action by the Superintendent of Police, Haldwani," she has said in the FIR.

"He would tell the associate dean and she would ask me to reply to his messages. Swamiji also instructed seniors to ensure that all girls responded to him, warning that those who did not would face manipulated attendance or unnecessary deduction of marks in exams," she has alleged.