Income Tax raids on Kalki Bhagwan ashram

Sleuths from the Income Tax department on Wednesday swooped down on premises belonging to controversial self-style godman ‘Kalki Bhagwan’ and his son, Krishna, in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

The raids are underway at 40 locations, most of them in Chennai and Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, since Wednesday morning, informed sources said.

Besides the premises belonging to the godman, including his sprawling ashram in Chittoor, the buildings belonging to his son Krishna were also being raided. Sources said Krishna is said to have made huge investments in ventures of his associates in which tax evasion is suspected.

“The raids are being conducted on a tip-off that the companies in which Krishna has invested are evading tax. Since the information we received is credible, the raids are happening since morning,” a source said.

The source also said it is suspected that Krishna has re-routed funds from the ashram owned by his father to his companies. However, the ashram has not commented yet on the raids.

Born as Vijayakumar Naidu, Kalki Bhagwan began his career as a clerk with Life Insurance Corporation of India and started a residential school called Jeevashram in Chittoor along with a friend. In the 1990s, Kalki Bhagwan became quite popular in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh with thousands of devotees thronging his ashram near Chennai.

The ashram is also accused of minting money as an ordinary darshan of a couple is priced at Rs 5,000 and special darshan at Rs 25,000. The self-styled godman also faced allegations of land grabbing in the past and is battling court cases.