Click to play videoHyderabad: Fake currency worth thousands of rupees, leopard skin, tiger claws — all prized possessions of a sanyasi (godman), who claims to have renounced the material world.
Thripuranand or Nityananda Swami, as he is known to his followers, is a recent entrant in Hyderabad's power circuit. Nityananda is from West Godavari district and has many bureaucrats and political leaders among his worshippers.
His ungodly acts came to light after a confession by an accused in the State Museum robbery case.
Cyberabad DCP, Damodar says, "Nityananda is involved in trading tiger skins. Some of his shishyas (disciples) are also involved in circulation of fake currency. We have evidence against them. There are also allegations that he has cheated some people of money by promising them jobs."
The swami, who is considered by villagers to be an expert at chasing away evil spirits, was not at his ashram, when the raids took place. And once arrested, the swami lost no time in cursing those behind his fall from grace.
"Those who have done this to me will face the fury of Gods. I have been away from the ashram for the last three months to care for my son who met with an accident and I don't know who did this to me," says he.
Nityananda Swami — the ever-blissful as his name means— makes for an amusing caricature of the fake. And police say that what they have unearthed is only a shade of the dark side.
(With inputs from Arvind Yadav in Hyderabad)
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