Income Tax officials from Tamil Nadu on Wednesday conducted simultaneous raids at the premises of Kalki Bhagwan, a self-styled godman, in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Kalki, who is the founder of Oneness University, a spiritual school, also saw searches being conducted at his main ashram in Varadaiahpalem of Chittoor district in Andhra on Wednesday.
I-T sleuths cordoned off the premises and seized several documents, besides the mobile phones of those working inside the ashram. The officials examined allegations of foreign donations to the ashram and tax evasion. The religious organisation also reportedly faces allegations of land grabbing.
Raids were also conducted at the house and offices of Kalki's son Krishna, in Hyderabad, besides Kalki Ashrams in Chennai and other parts of the Telugu states. The raids are expected to continue on Thursday.
According to media reports, Kalki was born Vijay Kumar Naidu and began his career as a clerk with the Life Insurance Corporation in 1971, before joining the J. Krishnamurthy Foundation in the 1980s and getting expelled and setting up his own trust.
By 1989, the transition into a 'bhagwan' or a god was complete, as Vijay Kumar claimed to be an avatar of Vishnu and amassed a cult following by claiming to have supernatural powers and promising 'nirvana' or enlightenment.
Soon, several devotees began arriving at his ashram in Chittoor, including politicians, industrialists and film stars.
By 1999, Kalki set up a campus in Chennai called Somamangalam, and also founded ‘Oneness University’, media reports added.
However, locals in Andhra's Chittoor district where the head ashram was set up, are critical of the self-styled godman and claim that he has allegedly indulged in land grabbing and did not follow up on grand promises of developing the region, which were made while the ashram was being set up.