The video clips that appeared on television channels were untrue and it was the work of miscreants who wanted to defame him and his establishment, Swami Nithyananda of Dharmapeetam said in a statement here on Sunday.
Swami Nithyananda's attorney M. Shreedhar, who met journalists at his office to give away a CD with a recording of Nithyananda speaking, said the video clips had been morphed and Swami's camp had not raised suspicion against anyone till now. He added that Swami Nithyananda was now in Varanasi attending the Kumbh Mela.
Nithyananda's statement comes in the wake of charges including rape and criminal conspiracy filed against him by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the city police, following a complaint lodged by his former disciple, Nithya Dharmananda alias K. Lenin.
“Collecting evidence”
In the statement, Nithyananda claimed that he was innocent and the video content that was aired was in no way connected to him and his Dharmapeetam.
“We are in the process of collecting evidence on the persons behind the false video footage. Very soon the truth will be unearthed and I will come before the media with necessary evidence,” he said in his 4-minute video statement.
“We are totally unaware of the contents of the FIR filed against Swamiji as the police have neither submitted it to the concerned magistrate nor given a copy to us. We are ready to face the case legally and will prove Swamiji's innocence,” said Mr. Shreedhar.
“We are likely to receive a copy of the FIR tomorrow [on Monday] and will decide depending on the charges whether to file for an anticipatory bail for Swamiji,” he added.
