Apart from his spiritual identity, over the years, self-styled godman, Kalki Bhagwan has become famous for his Bollywood connections and sting operations. Born as Vijay Kumar Naidu in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, the leader of a large cult and founder of Oneness University is now facing IT raids across his ashrams and trust offices. Officials searched his Ekam Ashram in Chittoor district spread over more than 50 acres, Chennai office and ashram and several other properties in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
An LIC agent, Bhagwan transformed into a godman almost three decades back. From then on, he has managed to amass followers from across the globe. Bhagwan and his wife, Padmavathi, have declared themselves as holy avatars and they are worshipped by his followers.
What separates Bhagwan from other spiritual gurus or godmen is his control over huge tracts of lands running into hundreds of acres. In his native Chittoor district, Bhagwan has a number of campuses for ordinary, international and celebrity followers. The meditation halls and accommodations are spread over a large area. That apart, his Trust has managed to bring under its control, dozens of acres for various purposes. According to locals, it is difficult to say how much land Kalki Trust owns. At one point, he faced allegations of land grabbing, too.
In the last decade, the sleepy village has seen some of the top Bollywood celebrities visiting them. Actors Shilpa Shetty and Hrithik Roshan are some of the few members who stayed in the Ekam Ashram and attended meditation and spiritual courses. According to a local journalist who has been tracking the activities of Kalki for sometime, the top members of the organisation always targeted celebrities to enhance their brand. To an extent it seemed to have paid off. Apart from that, local Telugu news channels have conducted sting operations inside the Ashram premises multiple times and alleged that there was supply of drugs inside the abode of the godman.
Though controversies are not uncommon for Bhagwan, the fresh IT raids suggest that his son is under the scanner more than the godman.
“Bhagwan has not been coming to the ashram regularly since the last few years. He gives video messages to his followers from his home in Tamil Nadu. During this time, his son Krishna’s significance increased. He would not only translate Bhagwan’s messages but also took over the trust’s activities. He is known to be a businessman more than a spiritual leader. Hence, he routed the huge donations and other income of the trust and invested them in various ventures. This has attracted the attention of the IT,” said a senior police official of Andhra Pradesh who did not wish to be named.
It is learnt that cash worth crores have been recovered from his ashrams even as searches are underway.