FIR against Ramdev aide

The CBI has registered an FIR against Baba Ramdev’s aide Acharya Balakrishna over allegations that he used fake documents to acquire his passport.

The CBI has registered an FIR against Baba Ramdev’s aide Acharya Balakrishna over allegations that he used fake documents to acquire his passport.

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The agency’s Dehradun unit lodged the FIR under Section 12 of the Passport Act levelling charges of forgery and cheating against Balakrishna.

The CBI, which had earlier lodged a Preliminary Enquiry against him in June, found that "Balakrishna had submitted fake degrees, claiming that they had been issued by a reputed university, to acquire his passport," according to an agency investigator.

According to the official, the CBI has also issued a 'Look Out Circular' against Balakrishna to pre-empt his escape from the country. "The 'Look Out Circular' has been sent to all the entry points and airports in the country, along with his photographs," he added.

"The CBI has already started the process of getting Balakrishna's passport revoked," said the official. The CBI will soon summon Balakrishna for questioning at the CBI's office in Dehradun, he said.

The CBI's probe revealed that Balakrishna's two degrees, 'Purv Madhyma' (a high school degree issued in 1991) and 'Shastri' (a Sanskrit degree issued in 1996 by Sampurna Nand Sanskrit University, Varanasi), did not find any corroboration in the university's records.

"The registrar of the university also confirmed that the enrolment numbers indicated in the fudged documents belonged to another student," said another CBI source.

Balakrishna had earlier rebutted the CBI's allegations, telling media, "I was born in India, my parents are from Nepal…I am (an) Indian according to the Constitution of India. I was born in Haridwar, I was educated in India."