While economic offences against Sarathi Baba alias Santosh Raul and his adopted son Satyam are mounting by the day, so are the allegations of sexual exploitation of women against the senior Raul (46) pouring in.
An unmarried girl from Kendrapada on Thursday landed up at the police headquarters here along with her mother bringing allegations of sex, sleaze and loot against Santosh Raul. The Crime Branch police recorded the statements of the mother-daughter duo under Section 161 of CrPC, sources said.
Two married women had earlier brought similar charges against the Baba, claiming they were forced by their respective spouses to get intimate with the fake godman. One of them has even recorded her statements under oath before a judicial magistrate in Kendrapada. It is believed that the Crime Branch would take up all these cases for a comprehensive investigation.
It is alleged that claiming to have possessed clairvoyance, the Baba was attracting women towards him through hypnotism and exploiting them sexually with the help of his aides and agents. Victims, who earlier feared to speak out, are now gathering courage to vent their ire after the Baba was arrested.
Meanwhile, the Baba's adopted son Satyam Sekhar Raul (20), who was arrested on Wednesday, was sent to the Choudwar jail on Thursday after he was produced in a court here. The SDJM Court allowed the Crime Branch to take Satyam on remand for three days fromFriday.
Satyam was taken to the Choudwar Circle Jail on the outskirts of the city, where the Baba is cooling his heels. Jail sources said the son is lodged in an isolated cell adjacent to that of his father. The father-son duo had a brief emotional meeting before they were separated.
Meanwhile, the Malkangiri police have transferred the missing case of a Malkangiri youth to the Kendrapada police. The case was based on an FIR lodged by D Suvaya on August 11 at the Malkangiri police station about missing of her son K Balaraju from Sarathi Baba's Barimul ashram in Kendrapada district three years back.
Suvaya had alleged in the FIR that her son had gone to the ashram on April 16, 2012. Though Balaraju had told
his mother that he would return from the ashram within five days, he did not return, she added.
Suvaya said the ashram authorities had admitted that Balaraju was in the ashram for a few days but could not furnish any details about when he left the ashram.