Godman Chandraswami whose named figured in Rajiv killing case dies

Godman Chandraswami has passed away. He was 66. Chandraswami was on dialysis. Recently he suffered a stroke followed by severe sepsis and developed Multi-Organ failure.
Chandraswami -born in 1948 whose real name was Nemi Chand was a controversial Indian tantrik. He was called a godman by some people. His father came from Behror in Rajasthan and worked as a money lender.

His name had cropped up the the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case too. In his arguments before the Jain commission probing the conspiracy behind Rajiv's killing, AICC counsel R.N. Mittal had in 1997 alleged that Chandraswami through his wide international links and involvement in major arms and financial deals arranged the funds which the LTTE needed badly.

Mittal further told the one-man panel that the self-styled godman had every reason to play a crucial role in the conspiracy as he was arrested during Rajiv Gandhi's regime and he was refused permission to go abroad.

Chandraswami has also been accused of various financial irregularities. He was ordered by the Supreme Court to pay a penalty in several Foreign Exchange Management Act violation cases registered by the enforcement directorate.

Who is Chandraswami?

Chandraswami was born as Nemi Chand in 1948. Chandraswami moved to Hyderabad as a child with his father who hailed from Behror in Rajasthan. A practitioner of Tantra, Chandraswami left home to become a student of Upadhyar Amar Muni and the tantrik pandit Gopinath Kaviraj.

He is known to have lived in the jungles of Bihar meditating. He claimed to have obtained extraordinary powers called siddhis after four years of penance.

A Jain by religion, Chandraswami was a believer in the goddess Kali. Was was on the board of World religious leaders for Elijah Interfaith Institute.

Chandraswami was said to have been the spiritual advisor to former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. Chandraswami built an ashram known as Vishwa Dharmayatan Sanathan in Delhi's Qutub Institutional Area after Rao became the Prime Minister.

Chandraswami is said to have dispensed spiritual advice to the Sultan of Brunei, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain, actress Elizabeth Taylor, British PM Margaret Thatcher, arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, crime Lord Dawood Ibrahim and 'Tiny' Rowland.

He faced charges of financial irregularities repeatedly. In 1996 he was arrested on charges of defrauding a London-based businessman of $100,000.

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