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On 6 June 1993, six deaths happened in the controversial Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba's ashram. Four devotees, aged between 25 and 40 years and all resident in the ashram, went to Sai Baba's residence armed with knives.<ref name=bbcd>BBC Documentary. Secret Swami</ref><ref name=Ruhela>Ruhela, Satya Pal (1997), Sri Sathya Sai Baba and the Press, 1972-1996, M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 9788175330412, pp. 106–107</ref> As they approached they were stopped by four of Sai Baba's attendants.<ref name=Ruhela/> In the struggle that followed, two of his attendants were killed and the other two injured.<ref name=Ruhela/> Hearing the commotion Sai Baba escaped through a back stairway and raised the alarm.<ref name=bbcd/><ref name=Ruhela/> When heavily armed police arrived at the scene, the men locked themselves in Sai Baba's bedroom and refused to give themselves up.<ref name=Ruhela/> The police stated that they were charged at by the men, who were subsequently shot by the police.<ref name=Ruhela/> Others state the cornered assailants were deliberately shot at and that political influence of Sai Baba kept investigations from proceeding.<ref name=bbcd/>
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2019}}
On June 6, 1993 there was an assassination attempt on Sai Baba's life. While reports vary, the official narrative is that four men (devotees) entered Sai Baba's residence under the premise of wanting to give him a telegram. When their path was obstructed, they stabbed two of the Baba's assistants to death, injuring two others.<ref name="saiescape">{{Cite news |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19930630-satya-sai-baba-escapes-attack-811237-1993-06-29 |title=Sathya Sai Baba escapes attack|date=29 June 1993|last=Rai|first=S |work=]}}</ref> Hearing the commotion Sai Baba sounded the alarm and police were dispatched to his residence. Upon arriving, the police said the four youths had locked themselves in Sai Baba's living room and the officers tried to break the door down. "The four were shot when they opened the door and attacked the police."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/who-is-sri-sathya-sai-baba-101102|title=Who is Sri Sathya Sai Baba?|agency=Press Trust of India|date=24 April 2011|publisher=]|access-date=25 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/religion-obituaries/8471342/Sathya-Sai-Baba.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/religion-obituaries/8471342/Sathya-Sai-Baba.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Religion Obituaries; Satya Sai Baba |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=24 April 2011 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="saidna">{{Cite news |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_sathya-sai-baba-escaped-murder-attempt_1535839 |title=Sathya Sai Baba escaped murder attempt|date=25 April 2011|last=Madhusoodan|first=M K |work=]}}</ref><ref name="saimystery">{{Cite news |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/special-report/story/19930715-sai-baba-assassination-attempt-by-disciples-remains-mystery-811306-1993-07-14 |title=Sai Baba assassination attempt by disciples remains mystery|date=14 July 1993|last=Rai|first=S |work=]}}</ref><ref name=bbcd>BBC Documentary. Secret Swami</ref><ref name=Ruhela>Ruhela, Satya Pal (1997), Sri Sathya Sai Baba and the Press, 1972-1996, M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd., {{ISBN|978-81-7533-041-2}}, pp. 106–107</ref> Sai Baba remained unharmed during the incident,<ref name="saiescape"/> and later in a discourse cleared things up saying there was no bid on his life.<ref name="saidna"/>


Many aspects of the event remain ambiguous and unresolved. Inspector Reddy (of the ] recalls thinking Swami (Sai Baba) was dead and telling his officers to shoot but could never explain the big time gap between the four men locking themselves in the living room and their shooting. Some say that influential persons in the ashram ordered their deaths. Janakiram, Sai Baba's brother, told ], "If we allowed them (the assailants) to live, some Ram Jethmalani-like lawyer would have come and rescued them."<ref name="saimystery"/>
⚫ ==Reports and analysis==
]


Two of the initial assailants escaped and were captured a month later. They told investigators "that they had no intention of killing Baba but to inform him about some trust members who wanted to usurp his powers."<ref name="saidna"/> Anantpur Superintendent of Police K. Subbanna, said: "It is obvious that this is a conspiracy with a very big dimension."<ref name="saiescape"/>


Another concern for Sai Baba's immediate safety arose on January 17, 2002 when an unknown man (later identified as Somasundaram) entered the Whitefield Ashram with an air pistol. He was apprehended by volunteers and handed over to police without incident.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/sai-baba-escapes-murder-attempt-at-darshan/cid/905018|title=SAI BABA ESCAPES MURDER ATTEMPT AT DARSHAN |author=HABIB BEARY|date=17 January 2002|work=Telegraph India|access-date=17 January 2002}}</ref>
The exact copurse of events and the purported assailants motives are highly disputed.<Ref name=bbcd/> The police version claimed that when the purported assailants, who had locked themselves in a room, charged at the police with daggers so they were all shot dead. A Central Investigation Department report stated that the official police report is riddled with lies and inconsistencies.<ref name=bbcd/> V.P.B. Nair, Former Secretary to the Home Minister of ], who comes from a police background, states that the police report was riddled with lies and that the killing of the four boys were ''"absolute cold-blooded murder"'' . He opines that two or three daggers could have been no match for armed police and the story of all four boys being shot-dead in self-defense seems far-fetched. .<ref name=bbcd/> Analysts point out that for armed police to disarm the assailants would have been elementary: "the youths could have been disarmed or - at worst - shot to disable them, if they had actually threatened the police"<ref></ref>


Mr. Indulal Shah, chief functionary of the ] was quoted in the press as stating "the matter is purely internal and we do not wish to have any law enforcement agency investigating into it."<ref>], 10-6-1993</ref> However, it is currently unknown whether the murdered men were targets or assailants.<ref name="saimystery"/>
Another witness to the murders was a 14 year old boy 'Subbapayya' who happened to be in Baba's room when the assailants entered. The Indian Express (13-6-1993) states that according to police reports, the boy, in his early teens, was in Sai Baba's room when the assailants knocked saying there was a telegram for Sai Baba and he opened the door. They attempted to attack him, but the dagger only penetrated his shirt and he escaped unharmed. He bolted the door and alerted Baba to the impending danger. However, writes the Express, "what sounds illogical is that if Subbappayya had closed the door and bolted it from behind, how could the alleged assailants enter Baba's personal chambers after attacking the four guards on the ground floor? There are no indications of the alleged assailants or somebody applying pressure on the doors to open them. The police have taken Subbapayya's torn shirt into their possession... The investigating officers are tight-lipped to the question as to how the assailants could get into Baba's chamber."<ref name=murderanalysis> </ref> The ] interrogated Subbappayya twice, despite the ashram authorities demanding they present a valid authority to do so. <ref name=analysispriddy> by Robert Priddy</ref>


⚫ ==Intruder incident analysis==
Analysts such as ] also state that the there too many inconsistencies in the official story. All four boys had been shot at several times - which would be absolutely unnecessary if the purpose were to just disarm them. He notes that abrasions and marks apparently inflicted by beating were found on the boy's bodies which are also inconsistent with the initial police reports. One of the boys, Jagganatham had been shot through the palm and two places in the chest at close range. Another of the purported assailants, Suresh Kumar, had been shot in the left eye( to the brain ), right thigh and left wrist. <ref name=bpa></ref>
The incident was widely published in the Indian press. In the ] ] it was stated that "some police officers were arrested but were never charged and that the case was eventually dropped."<ref name=bbcd/> The police version claimed that the assailants charged at the police with daggers and were all shot dead. A ] report stated that the official police report was riddled with lies and inconsistencies.<ref name=bbcd/> V.P.B. Nair (Former Secretary to the Home Minister of ]) also opined that the official police report contained inconsistencies.<ref name=bbcd/>


⚫ ==References==
All four purported assailants were ex-students of Sai School and close devotees of Sai Baba.<ref name=bpa/> <ref name="autogenerated1"> An investigative report and collection of incriminating testimony complied by The Baileys. </ref><ref name=TGL/> R.R. Gogineni,
<references/>
The Former General Secretary of Rationalist Association of India, states that all the people killed were part of the inner circle of Sai Baba, and among them was Radha Krishna Menon,the personal assistant who had apparently been caught on video ""<ref></ref>


{{DEFAULTSORT:Prashanthi Nilayam}}
]'s investigative journalist Tanya Dutta states, in the BBC documentary "The Secret Swami": "Some police officers were arrested but never charged. The case was eventually dropped. Sai Baba has always had a close relationship with the police. Even today, senior officers are special guests at the Ashram. With friends in such high places Sai Baba seems to be untouchable. Any attempt to investigate the goings-on at his Ashram - even, murder - appear doomed to failure. Critics say police connections ensured that Sai Baba wasn’t even interviewed, despite being one of the witnesses to the events of that night. Indian journalists were censored and their stories suppressed."<ref name=bbcd/>


]
Telly Gallagher, who had then been holding the position of "Central Coordinator of Sathya Sai Organisation, Australia" for three years, states : "It wasn’t until 1993, following the assassination attempt on Sai Baba, resulting in the murder of four college students and two assistants in the Mandir, that we made our last visit to India. The purpose of this visit was to find the reason why former students of Sai Baba’s college would want to kill him, particularly when they had been given a free education! The eye witness accounts were horrific! After bursting into the Mandir, four students found themselves trapped upstairs where Sai Baba was staying. Each was interrogated by police, then one at a time they were executed! The stench of death was everywhere. I made further inquiries about Sai Baba having sexual relations with college boys and male students - some of these as young as seven years of age - and whether this was the reason for former students wanting to kill him. I was told, to my horror, that this was an acceptable Indian practice! I felt sick, and just wanted to take my family and leave the ashram and India as quickly as possible." <ref name=TGL> Terry Gallagher - A Letter to the Baileys. </ref> Shortly thereafter, Gallagher resigned his position and quit the organization.<ref name=TGL/>
]

]
Other analysts also opine that Sai Baba was directly involved in the murders. ] states the initial purpose of the boys trying get to Sai Baba was apparently to threaten him to stop abusing children or to murder him for doing so. Based on his research, he states: "A policeman who was working at the police station in Puttaparthi at that time told me that the boys had come there and said to Sai Baba: 'Now there will be a bit of a stop to these sexual assaults on small boys.' Sai Baba then locked them in - he was angry – locked them in, went and pressed the alarm button for the police. The police came and they received the go-ahead from Sai Baba to take over the matter .. could hear the boys up in Sai Baba’s bedroom and living room for four hours. And later the police thought it so dangerous to let them out to the people who were waiting outside that they quite simply executed them after four hours of interrogation."<ref>Interview of Sana Edamaruku for Danish TV Documentary: "Seduced by Sai Baba"</ref>

The incident was widely published in the Indian press. Sai Baba, on ],], dismissed the reason as "jealousy" among his followers, without giving any more details or explanations of the events.<ref>Guru Purnima Discourse, ] ], Keep Truth as Your Aim: </ref> The former Secretary of the Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh, V.P.B. Nair, is now trying to re-investigate the case.<ref name=bbcd/>One of India's leading newspapers, ], reported that commenting upon the murders at the time, the International Chairman of Sai Baba’s Organization and a member of the Sathya Sai Central Trust, Indulal Shah, stated to pressmen: “…the matter is purely internal and we do not wish to have any law enforcement agency investigating into it.” <ref> from a report in India's leading Daily The Hindu, 10-6-1993</ref> Analysts such as Premanand have expressed their outrage at the fact that sai baba was never questioned or interviewed.<ref name=bbcd/>

Several sources, including a ] and V.P.B. Nair (Former Secretary to the Home Minister of ]) stated that the official police report contained inconsistencies.<ref name=bbcd/> R.R. Gogineni, the Former General Secretary of the Rationalist Association of India, stated that all the people killed were part of the inner circle of Sai Baba.<ref></ref>

A previous case of alleged murder related to the ashram was reported on 20 February, 1987, when the body of a student at a college run by the Sathya Sai Trust was found in a semi-charred state. While the case was dismissed as suicide, Narendra Nayak, writing in the Indian Skeptics Journal, opined that the "powerful force around the Baba got the inquiry turned into a farce." He notes that circumstantial evidence did not support suicide being a plausible cause of death.<ref>, The Indian Skeptic.May 1998.] </ref>

⚫ ==References==
{{reflist}}

Latest revision as of 11:45, 2 September 2024

On June 6, 1993 there was an assassination attempt on Sai Baba's life. While reports vary, the official narrative is that four men (devotees) entered Sai Baba's residence under the premise of wanting to give him a telegram. When their path was obstructed, they stabbed two of the Baba's assistants to death, injuring two others. Hearing the commotion Sai Baba sounded the alarm and police were dispatched to his residence. Upon arriving, the police said the four youths had locked themselves in Sai Baba's living room and the officers tried to break the door down. "The four were shot when they opened the door and attacked the police." Sai Baba remained unharmed during the incident, and later in a discourse cleared things up saying there was no bid on his life.

Many aspects of the event remain ambiguous and unresolved. Inspector Reddy (of the Puttaparthi recalls thinking Swami (Sai Baba) was dead and telling his officers to shoot but could never explain the big time gap between the four men locking themselves in the living room and their shooting. Some say that influential persons in the ashram ordered their deaths. Janakiram, Sai Baba's brother, told India Today, "If we allowed them (the assailants) to live, some Ram Jethmalani-like lawyer would have come and rescued them."

Two of the initial assailants escaped and were captured a month later. They told investigators "that they had no intention of killing Baba but to inform him about some trust members who wanted to usurp his powers." Anantpur Superintendent of Police K. Subbanna, said: "It is obvious that this is a conspiracy with a very big dimension."

Another concern for Sai Baba's immediate safety arose on January 17, 2002 when an unknown man (later identified as Somasundaram) entered the Whitefield Ashram with an air pistol. He was apprehended by volunteers and handed over to police without incident.

Mr. Indulal Shah, chief functionary of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust was quoted in the press as stating "the matter is purely internal and we do not wish to have any law enforcement agency investigating into it." However, it is currently unknown whether the murdered men were targets or assailants.

Intruder incident analysis

The incident was widely published in the Indian press. In the BBC documentary it was stated that "some police officers were arrested but were never charged and that the case was eventually dropped." The police version claimed that the assailants charged at the police with daggers and were all shot dead. A Central Bureau of Investigation report stated that the official police report was riddled with lies and inconsistencies. V.P.B. Nair (Former Secretary to the Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh) also opined that the official police report contained inconsistencies.

References

  1. ^ Rai, S (29 June 1993). "Sathya Sai Baba escapes attack". India Today.
  2. "Who is Sri Sathya Sai Baba?". NDTV. Press Trust of India. 24 April 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  3. "Religion Obituaries; Satya Sai Baba". The Telegraph. London. 24 April 2011. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.
  4. ^ Madhusoodan, M K (25 April 2011). "Sathya Sai Baba escaped murder attempt". Daily News and Analysis.
  5. ^ Rai, S (14 July 1993). "Sai Baba assassination attempt by disciples remains mystery". India Today.
  6. ^ BBC Documentary. Secret Swami
  7. Ruhela, Satya Pal (1997), Sri Sathya Sai Baba and the Press, 1972-1996, M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 978-81-7533-041-2, pp. 106–107
  8. HABIB BEARY (17 January 2002). "SAI BABA ESCAPES MURDER ATTEMPT AT DARSHAN". Telegraph India. Retrieved 17 January 2002.
  9. The Hindu, 10-6-1993
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