New Delhi, Sep 25 (PTI) Self-styled godman Chaitanyananda Saraswati, who has been booked for allegedly sexually harassing 17 female students of a private management institute here, would monitor the hostel and campus CCTV feeds, including cameras installed outside washrooms, on his phone, investigators said on Friday.
The last known location of Saraswati, who is on the run, was traced to Mumbai, police said, adding that a team has been dispatched there.
According to the FIR, Saraswati (62), a former chairman of the management institute in southwest Delhi, allegedly forced female students to visit his quarters late at night and sent them inappropriate text messages, such as “Baby, I love you” and “I adore you”, at odd hours.
He allegedly kept track of the students’ movements through his phone.
He also used his BMW car, valued at Rs 1.5 crore, to take female students to Rishikesh under the pretext of “industrial visits”, said a senior police officer privy to the probe. Police seized the car on Thursday.
“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,” an officer said.
Police said apart from the cameras installed in the institute, CCTV surveillance was also placed in the hostel lobby and outside the bathrooms.
The hostel houses around 75 female students from the economically-weaker section.
The FIR was registered after the administration of the Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management (SRISIIM) got a police complaint lodged, alleging that during a virtual interaction with more than 30 female students, instances of sexual harassment, manipulation and threats by Saraswati — who was earlier known as Swami (Dr) Parthasarathy — were revealed.
One of the women associates of the accused, working as an associate dean at the institute, allegedly asked the female students to stand in a queue on Holi and told them that no one would put colour on each other before Saraswati.
“They were asked to say ‘Hari Om’ to Swami and bow down in front of him. After that, he put colour on their ‘maang’ (partition of the hair) and cheeks,” the FIR alleges.
The complainant further alleged that one female student was even “forced to change her name” and made to delete messages from her phone to erase evidence.
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.
The complainant has said in March this year, Saraswati took some female students for a ride in his BMW car and continued to allegedly send inappropriate messages to them even past midnight. “At 3:30 am, he would message us with odd comments and would often delete those chats,” the FIR reads.
According to the complainant, when she complained to the associate dean, instead of supporting her, she was asked to write an e-mail apologising to Saraswati.
“After that, he forced me to send e-mails and threatened me, saying I was not in the queue for passing. He openly said that he could fail me if I did not comply,” the FIR says.
The complainant has also accused Saraswati of misbehaving with her during Holi celebrations by forcibly applying colour on her, calling her “Baby” repeatedly and touching her inappropriately during handshakes, the FIR says.
In June, during an industrial visit to Rishikesh with 35 other female students, Saraswati allegedly called them to his room at odd hours. “He even blocked parents’ phone numbers when they tried to reach him. He harassed us mentally, physically and emotionally,” the complainant has alleged in the FIR.
The investigators said the accused tampered with the institute’s digital video recorder (DVR) system, leading to destruction of crucial CCTV evidence.
However, police believe the dashcam of the BMW may provide some material evidence.
Police said their investigation has found that Saraswati allegedly tightened his control over the institute by sub-letting the properties of Jagadguru Shankaracharya Mahasamsthanam Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham, which runs it, to private companies for financial gains.
“He reportedly used the proceeds to purchase high-end luxury vehicles,” an officer said. So far, two cars have been traced to Saraswati — a Volvo with a forged diplomatic number plate, ’39 UN 1′, and registered to a fake address, and a BMW he purchased in March.
“After buying the BMW, he performed a ‘pooja’ along with the institute’s female students, drove them around and played songs while making inappropriate comments. He also used the same car to take them to Rishikesh for an industrial visit,” the FIR says.
The accused is suspected to have travelled abroad recently, deliberately avoiding electronic devices and disguising his appearance to evade arrest, police said.
The case against Saraswati has been registered under sections 75(2) (sexual harassment), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Vasant Kunj North police station.
The SRISIIM has issued a four-page press statement outlining the steps taken by it in connection with the allegations against Saraswati.
The institute said it acted swiftly and decisively to protect its students after it came to know about the alleged harassment, arbitrary behaviour and financial irregularities linked to Saraswati.
“Based on the findings, Peetham lodged a criminal complaint on July 19, 2025, supported by more than 300 pages of documents. The matter was registered as an FIR on July 23,” the statement issued on Wednesday read. PTI SSJ BM BUN RC
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