Tainted godman Nityananda held in Himachal

After being on the run for over a month, self styled godman Swami Nityananda, who faces charges of rape, criminal intimidation and cheating, was arrested today from a Himachal Pradesh village.

After being on the run for over a month, self styled godman Swami Nityananda, who faces charges of rape, criminal intimidation and cheating, was arrested on Wednesday from a Himachal Pradesh village.

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The Karnataka-based Nityananda has been on the run since March 23 when the Karnataka High Court rejected his plea for anticipatory bail and quashing of criminal cases against him.

He was nabbed from a village in Solan district, about 50 km from Shimla.

"Swami Nityananda was arrested by a joint team of the Himachal Pradesh and Bangalore police from a village near Arki in Solan district. He was staying in a house for the past few days," Additional Director General of Police I D Bhandari told IANS.

"The accused would be brought to Shimla later in the evening," Bhandari added.

Video footage telecast in early March showed Nityananda in bed with two women. He denied any wrongdoing and has not been seen in public since then.

After the Karnataka High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea, Nityananda had quit as head of his ashram, Dhyanapeetam, located about 35 km from Bangalore.

In a related development, the Karnataka Crime Investigation Department (CID) has sought information from all those affected by Nityananda's actions.