Computer Baba's Ashram Was Built On Rs 80 Crore Government Land: Official

Former state minister Namdev Tyagi alias "Computer Baba" and six of his followers were arrested around 6 am on Sunday, hours before the Indore district administration demolished his illegal ashram built on two acres of 46-acre government land worth around Rs 80 crore.

They have been sent to central jail by the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) on the charge of disturbing peace.

Additional Collector Ajay Dev Sharma said a bore 315 rifle and airgun have also been found in Mr Tyagi's ashram, which will be investigated by police.

The district administration said that Mr Tyagi had illegally occupied about 46 acres of government land worth around Rs 80 crore, as per the present market rate, for years.

On the land, Mr Tyagi had built his grand ashram on 2 acres, which had items of all kinds of luxury.

Additional Collector Sharma said the 46-acre land near Indore international airport in Jambudi Hapsi village was given to the district panchayat for cowshed. "Tyagi occupied this land. They were given notices earlier but they did not remove the possession and hence the action was taken today. They were sent to jail after receiving a warrant from the SDM when they tried to stop the demolition and disturb the peace."

A force of 100 policemen, apart from the district administration and municipal corporation officials reached the spot in the morning to carry out the demolition.

Additional SP Prashant Choubey said those arrested were sent to jail after taking warrants from the SDM. "We are gathering the license information of the rifle and air gun seized during the search."

It is to be noted that Computer Baba had in 2018 alleged corruption against the then Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, after which he was made a minister. Later during the Assembly elections, he supported the Congress.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted on Sunday, "Computer Baba's ashram and temple are being demolished in Indore without any notice. This is political vendetta. I condemn it."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)