Three days after a fresh FIR and over two years after the first complaint, the police have initiated process to seal Sarathi Baba’s Khairput ashram here over the disappearance of a devotee who had visited the Baba’s Barimul ashram in Kendrapada in 2013.After the expose of the fake godman, the activities in the Khairput ashram have reduced considerably just as they have elsewhere. The discourses at the ashram have been suspended and the photograph of Sarathi replaced by one of Hanuman.
“My son Bala Raju was a devotee of Sarathi Baba. He had gone to Barimul in April 2013 and stayed there for five days. He was in touch with family through phone. After a few days, he stopped calling. When we called him back, he said he was admitted to a hospital. He could not provide any details about the hospital,” the missing person’s mother Suraiya said.
A worried Suraiya went to the Barimul ashram to inquire about her son where he met some youths from Khairput in Malkangiri district. The youths could identify Bala Raju when Suraiya showed his photograph to them. They informed her that they had seen her son in the ashram. She wanted to meet Sarathi Baba to ask him about her son’s whereabouts. However, the Baba’s disciples declined her request, saying the Baba had gone abroad.
When Suraiya threatened them that she would seek police and media help, the ashram staff argued that it would bring a bad name for the ashram. A resident of Khairput told the distraught mother that they would trace her son.
later, Suraiya filed an FIR with the Malkangiri police in April 2013, but the cops did not act on the complaint. When Sarathi Baba’s escapade controversy was out in the open, Suraiya again filed an FIR with the local police three days ago.
