'Porn swamy' arrested with CDs, cameras

Mathura, Jan 21 (IANS) The controversial Vrindavan 'Porn Swamy', accused of making pornograhic clips and movies using holy motifs and the backdrop of deities, was arrested Monday afternoon after more than ten days on the run, police said.

The temple city of Mathura, 380 km from Uttar Pradesh state capital Lucknow, was outraged after the case surfaced earlier this month, with Hindutva groups burning his effigies and demanding firm action.

The Bhagwatacharya, described as a multi-faceted personality, has been accused of producing movies against the backdrop of ghats, holy shrines and the Yamuna river, police sources said.

Police said Rajendra, who is a popular katha vachak (narrator of mythological tales) and painter, made porn clips for his foreign disciples, who helped him market these through some websites.

Police in Vrindavan, 15 km from Mathura, confiscated a movie camera, CDs, and hours of footage with kids, his wife and some foreigners.

Mathura police said he had been booked under section 377 (unnatural sex) of the Indian Penal Code and 67B of the IT Act.

Mathura police presented the arrested Swami before mediapersons late Monday evening.

However, Rajendra said he had made the films and clips of his wife for his personal use, which were later stolen and misused by some people. He told police that he was a painter and an artist and he used his wife as a model to make paintings.

His wife was not brought before the media.

The investigating officer said some of the pictures show him engaged in 'unnatural sex', while a few others show the couple with small kids in obscene acts.

Both of these being cognisable offences, the two have been arrested, he added.

The Bhagwatacharya denied all the allegations and said the CDs had been doctored.

Earlier, his wife filed a police complaint against an IT firm which allegedly leaked the film from a laptop Rajendra had given for repair.

She told police that Rs.10 lakh was allegedly demanded in ransom before the footage went into public circulation.

Mathura's Superintendent of Police (city) Ram Kishore Verma said that Rajendra and his family members had been shuttling between Kanpur, Mathura and Ghaziabad to avoid arrest.

Investigating officer Vivek Tripathi arrested him Monday as soon as he entered his house.

A police team also seized CDs and cameras from his relative's house in Ghaziabad.