Asaram Bapu: The preacher who built an empire of Rs 10,000 crore

Asaram Bapu PicPTIFrom the high pedestal of a preacher having thousands of followers selfstyled godman Asarams fall from grace came after he was embroiled in the rape case of a minor girl If we go by figures Asaram can surely give top businessmen a run for their money as the jailed selfstyled godman created an empire of Rs 10000 crore within four decades starting from a humble hut on the banks of the Sabarmati river in the early 70s to over 400 ashrams across the country and the worldThe scrutiny of documents seized by the police from Asarams ashram in Motera area here following his arrest in the rape case in 2013 had revealed that the 77yearold Asaram has amassed wealth of around 10000 crore which is excluding the market value of vast track of lands that he holds He may be still have many followers but after rape allegations he was accused of other crimes like land grabbing and practice of black magic in his ashrams As per a short documentary available on his official website Asaram was born in 1941 as Asumal Sirumalani in Berani village of Sindh province in Pakistan After partition in 1947 Asumal came to Ahmedabad with his parents and studied only till the fourth standard at a school in Maninagar area as he was forced to leave his studies after the death of his father Thaumal when he was 10 After doing some odd jobs during his early youth Asumal embarked on a spiritual quest towards Himalayas where he met his Guru Lilashah Bapu the documentary claimed It was that Guru who gave him the name Asaram in 1964 and commanded him to carve his own path and guide peopleAsaram came to Ahmedabad in the early 70s and started doing penance on the banks of Sabarmati near Motera area His true journey as a spiritual leader started in 1972 when he set up Moksha Kutir a humble hut on the banks of river Over the years his popularity as Sant Asaramji Bapu started soaring high and that humble hut converted into a full fledged Ashram Within a span of four decades he added around 400 ashrams in India and abroad Even today the Motera Ashram is flocked by followers who are still in denial mode and maintain that their guru has been jailed on false charges Asaram is married to Laxmi Devi and they have two children son Narayan Sai who is also behind bars and daughter Bharti Devi Asaram ran into troubled waters for the first time in 2008 when two cousins Dipesh and Abhishek Vaghela who used to stay at the Gurukul of Asarams Ashram in Motera area here were found dead under mysterious circumstances on the riverbed near the ashram in 2008The state CID had in 2009 booked seven followers of Asaram in the death case Parents of two cousins had alleged that they were killed in the Asarmas ashram as they practice black magic However his real fall started in 2013 after he was arrested for a minors rape in Rajasthan After that two Suratbased sisters had come out to speak about their alleged sexual exploitation at the hand of Asaram and his son Narayan Sai Surat Police had on October 6 2013 registered complaints filed by two sisters one against Asaram and another against his son Narayan Sai of rape sexual assault illegal confinement and other charges The case is going on againt Asaram in Gandhinagar court He was accused of land grabbing for building his ashrams in Surat and Ahmedabad His followers were held for threatening and assaulting witnesses in rape cases against him and his son after they were arrestedCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever