Sex baba was in beauty business

From managing a parlour to running a prostitution racket, Rajiv Ranjan Dwivedi has done it all. MiD DAY trails the shadowy past of the 'godman'

His was a meteoric rise. From a security guard in Delhi earning six thousand rupees a month to a self-styled spiritual guru and sex-racketeer amassing property worth crores; Shiv Murat Dwivedi alias Ichchadhari Sant Swami Bhimanandji Maharaj Chitrakootwale alias Rajiv Ranjan Dwivedi alias Karan Kumar Dwivedi (phew) or popularly known as Sex Baba, has made a remarkable journey.


Shiv Murat Dwivedi alias Ichchadhari Sant Swami Bhimanandji Maharaj
Chitrakootwale, 39, being produced at the Patiala court in New Delhi on
Wednesday. PIC/IMTIYAZ KHAN

Now, he is behind bars after being nabbed by the Delhi police following which the nationwide flesh trade that was run by him came to light.

Baba's first job
A 10th standard pass out, Dwivedi got his first job as a security guard at a five-star hotel in Agra. He later pursued the same vocation at a Delhi hotel. In 1996, Dwivedi made a career change when he joined Lifeline Beauty parlour in Lajpat Nagar-II as a manager. It was then that he devised a plan for making quick money while looking at advertisements of beauty and massage parlours in a newspaper.u00a0

Dwivedi was inspired by the idea of running a sex trade under the guise of a beauty salon. In 1997, joining hands with his friends Sanjay Dwivedi and Sanjay Mishra, he opened a beauty parlour in a basement at Lajpat Nagar-II. Perhaps as a sign of things to come, they named the salon 'Sai Point Beauty Parlour and Training Centre,' as Dwivedi was a Sai Baba follower.u00a0 They offered Bangkok massage facilities to men for just Rs 650. The sex racket flourished and in a short while Dwivedi moved into a plush bungalow at East of Kailash.

Swami's face-off with the law
Dwivedi's luck ran out very soon and on July 1, 1997, Delhi police arrested him under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. However, he was soon out on bail. His second arrest was in a robbery case in 1998, when he was held at the Badarpur police station. Again, he was released on bail. In 2003, he was arrested for running a sex racket in NOIDA.

Spiritual turn
Police sources said that when Dwivedi was released this time, his spiritual leanings came to the fore. He changed his appearance, style of functioning and technique. He presented himself as a huge Sai Baba Bhakt to the masses. But material needs made him continue with the flesh trade. Soon, he had made it so big that he could operate a nationwide prostitution syndicate.

"The sex racket was not his only business. He had invested in real estate and also lent money at high interest rates. He got huge donations worth several crores from a Las Vegas charitable organisation," said HGS Dhaliwal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South).

But all this was too good to last. On February 26, Dwivedi was nabbed by the Delhi police along with six women. He now would be charged under the stringent provisions of MCOCA.