Interpol issues blue notice to locate Nithyananda, wanted in rape, abduction case, may be hiding in Caribbean

The Interpol has issued a blue collar notice to locate the fugitive controversial godman Nithyananda on the request of Gujarat Police on Wednesday, officials said on Tuesday.

"The Interpol issued the Blue Corner notice against the controversial godman this month," Deputy Superintendent of Poilce told PTI. As, he is on wanted-list in two states of India.

According to latest reports, the fugitive godman might have obtained a passport from Belize a small caribbean country and might be hiding there.

Nithyananda had allegedly fled India without a passport after a rape and kidnapping case had been registered against him in Gujarat and Karnataka and he had skipped several summons.

So, to locate him, the Blue Corner notice has been issued which makes mandatory for member countries to share whereabouts of a person involved in a crime, IANS quoted officials as saying. Whereas, a Red Corner notice is to seek arrest warrant against the person with crime records.

Rajashekharan, native of Tamil Nadu, changed his name to Nithyananda and opened an ashram near Bengaluru in the early 2000s. He started to spread his teachings on the name of Osho Rajneesh.

In 2010, a video of him emerged online in which he was seen in a compromising position with an actress. But later he was arrested in Himachal Pradesh with charges of rape. Then, a series of such cases were filed against him and on which the charge-sheets had also been filed.

Nithyananda is wanted by the police in Gujarat and Karnataka in a case of kidnapping and keeping children captive at his ashram in Ahmedabad for the purpose of collecting donations.

His name also came under the crime against children and FIR was registered when two girls reported missing from his ashram in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

In December 2019, a video appeared on social media from undisclosed location in which Nithyananda claimed that he owns an island named ‘Kailasa’, which was thought to be located near Ecuador. But, Ecuador also denied his claim of buying an island. Ecuador said it had rejected his request for asylum. The Embassy of Ecuador also suggested he had left the country for Haiti.

Nithyananda is also being investigated by French authorities for alleged forgery case, involving $4,00,000, according to reports.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had cancelled Nithyananda's passport last year, and also "sensitised" all its foreign missions and posts to keep track of his movements.

The MEA said, “Nithyananda had a passport issued in 2008 with a 10-year validity but it was cancelled before 2018. Nithyananda had applied for a fresh passport, but was denied police clearance.” Despite all these claims by MEA, the controversial goman managed to flee the country before the police could lay hands on him.