New Delhi,February 28: From earning a meagre Rs 2,000 to raking in a princely Rs 5 lakh every month, Shiv Murti Dwivedi alias Sant Swami Bhimanand Ji Maharaj Chitrakoot Wale (39) has come a long way in the past 22 years. Dwivedi, a self-styled godman, was arrested by south district police on Friday for operating a high-profile sex racket. It involved former airhostesses and students.
Starting as a security guard at a five-star hotel at Nehru Place in 1988, he landed in the middle of a prostitution racket in his quest for quick riches. He was first arrested in Lajpat Nagar in 1997 for running a prostitution racket with a massage parlour as a facade.
Dwivedi had himself worked at a massage parlour in the same area in 1990 where he was earning a monthly salary of Rs 3000. He also used to get Rs 20 for every massage. Here he came in contact with pimps and had soon picked up tricks of the trade. Within a few months, Dwivedi had started his own massage parlour during which he came in contact with pimps like jailed Kanwaljeet and Sonu Punjaban to whom he even supplied call girls.
SHIV MURAT Dwivedi, the self- styled guru who was allegedly found running a sex racket in the garb of spiritualism, had high- profile political contacts.Seven diaries containing hundreds of names have been seized.
Preliminary investigations into Dwivedi’s call details reveal he was allegedly in touch with some businessmen as well as politicians in the Capital, the police said.
The police said Dwivedi’s links with international call girl rackets were also being probed.
A former security guard, Dwivedi was arrested along with two airhostesses, a management graduate and a Delhi University ( DU) student after the police busted a sex racket in an upscale locality in south Delhi.
Dwivedi or Ichchadhar Sant Swami Bhimanand Ji Maharaj Chitrakoot Wale, as he is known among his followers, was a spiritual teacher by day and allegedly a pimp by night.
Driven by the desire to become rich overnight, he parked himself outside a temple in south Delhi’s Badarpur, telling his followers that he was a disciple of Sai Baba.
As his following increased, he started holding frequent gatherings.
The police claimed he held a spiritual discourse camp in North Avenue in the Capital, which was attended among others by some parliamentarians.
Talking to media persons, BJP leader Kirti Azad said he was among a group of politicians who had attended the spiritual discourse. However, Azad said he and the others were there thinking he was a spiritual guru.
The police said Dwivedi used to lure girls from well- off families who would come to attend his spiritual discourse. The self- styled guru had amassed a fortune by peddling sex and spiritualism, they added.
The police said he also owns a temple in Khanpur, also in south Delhi. Investigators found he had built a cave- like structure and several underground rooms inside the temple.People of the area who used to visit the temple were shocked to know about Dwivedi’s arrest.
“ I am shocked to learn that he was running a sex racket in the garb of a spiritual leader. It is very difficult to believe anybody nowadays,” said Shalini Goyal, a resident.
Besides Dwivedi, the police arrested seven persons, including six high- profile call girls, from the Saket area when they were approaching a five- star hotel to strike a deal with a prospective client. Among the arrested women are a 22- yearold MBA student and a 19- year- old DU student. Two airhostesses were also held.
Apart from Dwivedi, the only other male member of the gang arrested is Praveen Kumar ( 28), a resident of CR Park. “ All of them ( the women) led comfortable lives and lived in sprawling homes in south Delhi,” a police officer said.
Dwivedi had recently built a 200- bed hospital and released several CDs of his teachings in Chitrakoot. During interrogation, Dwivedi said the idea of becoming a pimp came to him while he was working as a security guard at a five- star hotel. He left his job and started working in a Lajpat Nagar massage parlour, from where he was arrested in 1997 on charges of pimping.
Realising he was in the bad books of the police, Dwivedi decided to become a “ spiritual teacher” so that he could carry on with his illegal activities.Saket SHO Pankaj Singh used decoys to trap Dwivedi.Undercover agents posed as clients and busted the racket.