Chaitanyanand Saraswati's phone reveals 'predatory' behaviour: Secret student pics, 'lewd' chats

New Delhi | Chaitanyanand Saraswati, accused of sexually harassing 17 students at a private institute here, was found to have secretly clicked photos of women and staff, engaged in lewd chats, and spied on students through a CCTV monitoring app, police said on Tuesday.

Saraswati, arrested from Agra on Sunday after being on the run for several days, is also being confronted with his three female aides -- sisters who allegedly threatened victims and forced them to delete his lewd messages. One of them served as the Dean of the institute, and the other two were wardens, police said.

The seizure of the self-styled godman's phone revealed a disturbing pattern of predatory behaviour. It had secretly taken photos of students and staff, as well as several photos with female flight stewards and screenshots of display pictures of women, the officer said.

"Chats from just days before his arrest showed him soliciting women. In one exchange, he asked a woman to seduce him and sent hugging and kissing emojis to her. He also made an online payment to her for the act," an officer said.

"He lured women with promises of jobs as flight stewards or positions at his institute and used these pretexts to initiate conversations," he added.

Police said Saraswati's office was designed to resemble a luxury suite to impress the women who would visit him. He gave them expensive gifts, including jewellery, and asked them to share photos and videos of them doing yoga.

A CCTV monitoring app was also found on his mobile phone through which he kept track of female students on the campus and in the hostel.

"Investigations have revealed that he used London-based numbers to evade tracking while on the run. He was eventually traced through his IP address," a senior police officer.

He frequently name-dropped influential personalities to shield himself. He threatened police in the name of the Chief Justice of India and falsely claimed links with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to gain influence and support.

The officer said Saraswati was not cooperating in the investigation and tried to mislead interrogators on several occasions.

"He has shown no remorse for his actions and has been giving evasive replies," he said.

Saraswati has repeatedly lied during interrogation, even when he was confronted with evidence, police said. He responds, reluctantly, only when shown documents and digital proof, they said.

On Monday, he was taken to the campus of the institute to identify locations where he allegedly targeted his victims.