Waking up to the public outcry against Swami Nithyananda and activities in his Dhaynapeetam ashram in Bidadi, chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Monday ordered his arrest and closure of the ashram.
Gowda also instructed the police to evict the inmates after his talks with home minister R Ashoka and senior police and home ministry officials.
Soon after the order was issued, hundreds of devotees started leaving the ashram. They were stopped at the gate by police to scan their luggage before letting them out. Among them was a Canadian devotee who was detained after police found a hard disk in her bag.
Several kitchen helpers, gardeners and security guards were among those who vacated the ashram on Monday. Police found burnt copies of Tamil film magazines and portraits of gods on the ashram’s premises.
Three KSRP platoons deployed at the gate awaited orders to carry out search while senior officials camped in the police headquarters to get orders for further action.
The chief minister instructed the police to search the ashram for evidence, if any, that could shed light on the activities that were going on there. He also ordered the Bangalore regional commissioner to conduct a probe into the affairs of the ashram
and submit a report at the earliest.
The meeting discussed the preliminary report submitted by the deputy commissioner of Ramanagaram district and superintendent of police for Ramanagaram.
Official sources said the government took tough steps against the ashram bowing to public pressure. The police, who are yet to carry out a search operation, do not have hopes of getting crucial evidences from the ashram as they believe that Nithyananda and his associates might have carried away the evidence with them.
The police expressed helplessness, saying that they were just carrying out the government’s orders.
