Self-styled ‘godman’ Shiva Shankar Baba has been arrested by Crime Branch CID (CB-CID) police in Ghaziabad, near New Delhi following a series of complaints of sexual abuse against him, made by a few alumni of a residential school he founded on Chennai’s outskirts.
Shiva Sankar Baba, who was reportedly admitted at a private hospital in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, disappeared after the CB-CID took up the investigation and launched a manhunt. He was arrested by a team of police personnel led by a DSP, CB-CID, on Wednesday. He will be brought to Chennai after obtaining a transit remand, said police sources.
Following sexual abuse complaints from alumni, the Mahabalipuram All Women Police station (AWPS) last week had registered three cases against him under various sections of the IPC, POCSO Act and Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.
The school has been functioning since 2001. One of the complainants is a minor. The complainants allege that Shiva Shankar Baba had sexually abused them and claimed the incidents happened a few years ago when they were studying at the educational institution, said police.