Delhi:
Delhi's self-styled Godman Rajiv Ranjan Dwevedi is currently behind bars under stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) charges after allegedly running a massive sex racket in the country for several years. He was nabbed in February after an undercover operation by the Delhi police.
Now, a close friend of his is about to share the same fate.
Ankit alias Praveen, an alleged associate of the Godman has been booked under the MCOCA by Delhi police. Ankit had been held earlier this year with six prostitutes in Saket.
Police claim that Ankit possesses a fortune of several crores, while in the past he was virtually penniless.
"He was only a taxi driver. But when he came in contact with Dwevedi he became a rich man almost overnight. We have gone through his bank transactions that run into crores of rupees. Ankit has booked three flats worth several crores in Mehruali area in south Delhi. How can a common taxi driver become a millionaire within a year while he doesn't have any income source to justify his assets?" said a senior police officer.
The officer also said that Ankit has been sent to police remand for two days and will be interrogated about his wealth. Police said he has been close to Dwivedi and was helping him run the nationwide sex racket.
"He used to arrange call girls for the flesh trade and so we booked him under MCOCA," the officer concluded.
From a security guard in Delhi earning Rs 6000 a month to a self-styled spiritual guru and sex-racketeer amassing property worth crores, Rajiv Ranjan Dwevedi, popularly known as the Sex Baba, has had a meteoric rise.
A 10th standard pass out, Dwevedi 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, Dwevedi 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.
Dwevedi 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 Part-2. They named the salon 'Sai Point Beauty Parlour and Training Centre,' as Dwevedi was a Sai Baba follower.
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 home in East of Kailash.
Dwevedi'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.
Police sources said that when Dwevedi 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.
But all this was too good to last. On February 26, Dwevedi was nabbed by the Delhi police along with six women. He now will be charged under the stringent provisions of MCOCA.