Self-styled godman linked to sex racket sent to jail
By IANSMonday, March 15, 2010
NEW DELHI - A city court Monday sent self-styled godman Shiv Murat Dwivedi, accused of running a prostitution racket, to jail for one day and rejected a police plea to allow his interrogation for five more days.
Additional Sessions Judge S.K. Sarvaria, while turning down the police plea, asked for the case record and the details of the investigation so far, before extending his police custody.
The court directed the police to bring the case records by Tuesday.
Police earlier demanded the custody of Dwivedi, arrested with six women and a man from south Delhi Feb 26, to verify the contents of the website run by him.
Dwivedi, who has been booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was presented before the court after the expiry of his police custody.
Under MCOCA, an accused cannot apply for bail for six months from the day of his arrest and a police officer of the rank of deputy commissioner can record his confession which can be used as evidence in the court.
Dwivedi, 39, who belongs to Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh, came to New Delhi in 1988 and initially worked as a security guard. He was arrested on charges of running a prostitution racket in 1997 and 1998.
He then changed his appearance and started calling himself Ichchadhari Sant Swami Bhimanand Ji Maharaj Chitrakoot Wale. Under the cloak of spirituality, he started a flourishing flesh trade racket, the police said.
