PRAYAGRAJ: Jyotish Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati on Monday strongly dismissed allegations of sexual exploitation against him and his camp.He said, “Those boys never entered our Gurukul, never studied, and we have nothing to do with them. They are students of a school in Hardoi, as evidenced by their marksheets submitted in the lawsuit. So, when they never came here, and have nothing to do with this place, how can anyone do anything to them?”The Shankaracharya further accused some individuals of spreading confusion and trying to harm Hindu institutions from within.“”Even if the police take action to arrest us, we won’t oppose them. We will cooperate. The public is watching everything… The lies are eventually exposed. The story will be proven false, if not today, then tomorrow, if not tomorrow, then the day after. We were within the reach of your cameras. Everything around our camp is captured by CCTV… And yet, confusion is being spread claiming, ‘There’s a CD.’ So why isn’t it being made public? Even if the police take action to arrest us, we won’t oppose them. We will cooperate. The public is watching everything, and lies are eventually exposed,” he said.The statements came a day after Jyotish Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand, his disciple Mukundanand Brahmachari, and three unidentified individuals were booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The FIR, registered at Jhunsi police station, followed directions from Special Judge Vinod Kumar Chaurasia after a petition filed by Shankuri Peethadheshwar Ashutosh Maharaj, a plaintiff in the Krishna Janmabhoomi–Shahi Eidgah dispute.Sections 3, 4(2), 6, 16, 17, and 51 of the POCSO Act, along with Section 351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, were invoked in the complaint, which alleged sexual exploitation of two minor boys at his camp during the 2025 Magh Mela and Maha Kumbh.Prayagraj police confirmed the FIR registration and said the investigation will include collection and forensic examination of electronic and digital evidence. The case is now under preliminary investigation.Earlier, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati on Saturday dismissed the allegations against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO), calling them “fabricated”. He also noted that his legal team had already informed the court of this stance on Saturday.Speaking to news agency ANI, the religious leader alleged that the complainant, Ashutosh Brahmachari, has a history of filing false cases against others and is a registered history-sheeter at the Kandhla police station in the Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh.
