Saraswati pledges cooperation as police intensify sexual abuse probe

investigators on Monday visited the Magh Mela area in Prayagraj, where the alleged abuse took place last month and during the 2025 Mahakumbh

Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati on Monday promised full cooperation with the investigators, two days after a special court in Prayagraj ordered the registration of a case against the seer for allegedly sexually abusing two boys, even as police intensified their probe in the case and began gathering evidence.

Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati maintained that a false accusation has been made against him. (AP)

“We are ready to cooperate fully so that the stigma against me can be resolved quickly. I am not going anywhere. I am not running away,” said Saraswati, who maintained that a false accusation has been made against him. “The arrest is out of the question, but I am prepared for it if it happens. The arrest may be for the purpose of preserving evidence...We are not running away.”

Saraswati, who was in the news for his confrontation with the organisers of the Magh Mela in Prayagraj and accused the administration of preventing him from bathing on Mauni Amavasya, said that the police have no evidence because all the allegations are false. Saraswati added that CCTV cameras were installed at the Magh Mela, which concluded this month, and would have captured everything.

The comments came as investigators visited the Magh Mela area in Prayagraj, where the alleged abuse took place last month and during the 2025 Mahakumbh. Assistant police commissioner Vimal Kishore Mishra, who is leading the investigators, said they are proceeding with utmost caution because of the involvement of minors. “The medical examination of the boys is scheduled for Monday...a woman sub-inspector will record their statements. Their testimonies will then be presented before a magistrate, likely on Tuesday. Once these formalities are completed, a police team will travel to Varanasi to question the accused,” said Mishra.

Saraswati’s public relations officer, Shailendra Yogiraj Sarkar, alleged that police officers in plain clothes were deployed outside the seer’s ashram near Kedar Ghat in Varanasi. He added personnel from Bhelupur police station were also on alert. “Free and fair investigation will reveal the truth. There is nothing to hide,” he said.

Sarkar said Saraswati met lawyers at his ashram and is believed to be considering approaching the high court to prevent his arrest. He insisted that the allegations were baseless and that the boys were never enrolled at Saraswati’s school. “When the marksheets were presented in court, they showed they were students of a school in Hardoi. What do we have to do with them?” He added that Saraswati is neither absconding nor avoiding inquiry.

The case against Saraswati under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was filed after Ashutosh Maharaj, a disciple of spiritual leader Jagadguru Rambhadracharya, approached the special court with two boys. In camera statements of the boys were recorded in the court. The boys claimed they were threatened when they resisted the abuse.

Saraswati’s disciple Mukundanand Brahmachari, and three unidentified people were also booked for alleged sexual abuse and threatening the boys.

Maharaj told the court that he had lodged a complaint on January 24 and subsequently approached the police commissioner on January 25 and the superintendent of police (Magh Mela) on January 27, but no action was taken, prompting him to seek judicial intervention.

The court clarified that it had not expressed any view on the merits of the case and that all issues would be decided during the investigation.