Uttarakhand police have arrested 50 “fake sadhus”, including a Bangladeshi, from across the state in the last two days under Operation Kalnemi aimed at identifying imposters posing as saints and cheating people.
Ajay Singh, senior superintendent of police of Dehradun, said the rise in the number of “fake sadhus” coincided with the Kanwar Yatra.
“The frauds wear saffron attire and carry religious texts to look like a sadhu and cheat people. They claim they can solve all problems and demand money in return. Sometimes, they also steal valuables from the devotees or commit other crimes,”
Singh said.
“We have arrested 25 such imposters from Dehradun district, including a 26-year-old Bangladeshi identified as Rukan Rakam alias Shah Alam. He was living illegally in India. The majority of the arrested people hail from other states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan,” he added.
Out of the 50 arrested people, two are Muslims and the rest Hindus. Most of them, excluding the Bangladeshi, were charged with disturbing peace and granted bail by a local court with a warning.
Arjun Das from Kamrup in Assam, who was among the arrested, told reporters that he didn’t undergo any training to become a sadhu but had been spending his life as a wanderer. “It is wrong to cheat, but all I was trying to do was survive. I wear this saffron robe because I like it,” he said.
Mohan Joshi from Dausa in Rajasthan said even genuine sadhus took money from the devotees. “I fail to understand why they call me an imposter. I wear saffron because I consider myself a sadhu. No school gives certificates to sadhus,” he reasoned.
Another person, who didn’t wish to be identified, said: “There are many so-called sadhus, including fake Mahamandaleshwars who earn the title by influencing the senior sadhus. We all know why the head of the Akhara Parishad had committed suicide in 2021. But the government doesn’t say anything
about them.”
The Kinnar Akhara had given the title of Mahamandaleshwar to former actress Mamta Kulkarni, but withdrew it in the face of criticism. Narendra Giri, then head of All India Akhara Parishad, hanged himself after his disciples allegedly made videos of him with a woman and a girl.
Ritesh Shah, in-charge of Kotwali police station in Haridwar, said: “We have arrested 13 fake sadhus from the district in two days. They were trying to cheat the kanwariyas by claiming that they possessed spiritual powers.”
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had named the drive after Kalnemi, a demon in Ramayan who had tried to mislead Hanuman during his search for a herb that saved an injured Lakshman. Hanuman eventually killed Kalnemi.
“I met the senior sadhus of the state on Friday and took blessings for the success of the drive,” Dhami said.
Congress leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat posted on X: “Fear has taken over religious belief. Religion became hypocrisy… The drive is appreciable... but who has pushed the people into superstition?”
