Swamy Nithyananda of the Bangalore-based Nithayananda Dhyanapeetam on Thursday sought a fresh probe into the veracity of a videotape, telecast by a television channel and put on its website by a Tamil magazine in 2010, purportedly showing him in a compromising position with an actor.
Reiterating his stand that the tape had been manipulated to suit the interests of some persons who allegedly threatened, blackmailed and extorted money from his disciples, Swamy Nithyananda said that four independent U.S.-based experts had analysed it and concluded that the content was “fake” and “morphed”.
He had given copies of the reports to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Karnataka, which is investigating the case.
Advanced technology
A fresh probe into the genuineness of the videotape was essential in the backdrop of the international experts' conclusion, using advanced technology.
“These experts… are often engaged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)... they are willing to give evidence in any court in India or the US,” he said.
Swamy Nithyananda said that some of his disciples, who were pained by the contents of the tape, had sought the experts' opinion.
“We are taking steps to remove the morphed video clip from websites. Lenin Karuppan (a former aide of Swamy Nithyananda accused of masterminding the videotape scandal) might have taken the assistance of some persons to manipulate this videotape.”
Recalling how his disciples were threatened and blackmailed by some media bigwigs and journalists, he said they (the accused persons) bargained for about Rs.60 crore for not making the videotape public.
Police inaction
“We refused to pay. They confined one of our disciples in a room and forcibly took Rs.42 lakh that was raised through other followers in a short period of time. He was attacked and released in front of a police station in T. Nagar (Chennai). Police took no action on our complaints though we were threatened, attacked and our premises ransacked…”
Swamy Nithyananda said that he was happy with the investigation of the Crime Branch CID of Tamil Nadu. “Lenin Karuppan, who surrendered before the CBCID officials on Wednesday, should be imprisoned till the disposal of the cases against him.”
Actor Ranjitha, who was present during the press briefing, said she was also threatened by some persons that the videotape would be leaked if money was not paid.
