Associate accuses godman Sarathi Baba of plotting to kill her

Self-styled godman Sarathi Baba

The controversy that led to the arrest of self-styled godman Sarathi Baba arrest from an ashram in Odisha’s Kendrapara took a new turn Saturday with a Dalit woman accusing him of plotting to kill her by paying a “supari” of Rs 10 lakh.

Last week, the MBBS graduate had filed an FIR in Cuttack’s Mangalabag police station accusing four persons, including an estranged aide of Sarathi, of threatening her. On Saturday, she filed a new FIR with Crime Branch police station, alleging that the godman, through his women associates, threatened to kill her if she spoke out against him. She added that she had been forced by Sarathi’s women associates to file the initial FIR.

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The woman is a key figure in the scandal. She had allegedly accompanied Sarathi to a Hyderabad hotel, where he was also allegedly seen eating chicken and liquor, leading to protests.

ADGP, Crime Branch, B K Sharma said the woman alleged that she was asked by another woman who identified herself as a CBI officer to file the first FIR.