The Mysterious Vishwavidyalaya of Salt Lake

The mysterious vishwavidyalaya of Salt Lake from Times India. 23 Aug 2001

kolkata: this three-storeyed grand "vishvavidyalaya" has existed in the CL block of Salt Lake since 1989, but has remained "the building to be avoided" to most neighbours.

Reason, "you hear women's wails at the dead of the night", or, "you never see the doors or windows open in the building, have you ever seen this kind of a university, what does a vishwavidyalaya mean?".

This is the refrain one hears from the residents of CL block, who have lived in the vicinity of the Adhyatmik Ishwariya Vishwavidyalaya for more than a decade. Rabindranath Das, the "head" of this institution, was arrested by the city police recently, for his alleged involvement in the abduction of Khadim chief Partho Roy Burman.

According to the police, criminals who kidnapped Roy Burman took shelter and planned their operation from this "Vishwavidyalaya". Investigations revealed that the gang to which the criminals belonged had links in Farrukabad in U.P., in Hyderabad and in Bihar. The headquarters of this Vishwavidyalaya is also in Farrukabad, from where Das was arrested.

The inmates of the Vishwavidyalaya, however, claimed that Das had gone to Farrukabad on July 27 to "serve" the headquarters of the Vishwavidyalaya. No one answered the calling bell at the Vishwavidyalaya for long. Then someone appeared and said, "how dare you come and ring the bell here! Go away."

After it was explained to them that TNN had come to find out what was "taught" at the Vishwavidyalaya, the correspondent and the photographer was let in, but the door behind them was immediately locked. One woman, wearing a white saree and blouse appeared and said, "I am a Brahma Kumari. We are a religious organisation where we teach people how to win over their indriyas" but how many students did they have and where do they come from?

"We have lots of students and we are not answerable to you for that", she said. A door on the side opened a little and one could see a few eager heads peeping from the dark. You turned towards them and the door banged shut. From a lane on the side, two young men, face covered with a handkerchief, ran out.

"Who are they?" one asked. "Bhais. They are Brothers who serve here. why are you asking such questions?" the Brahma Kumari made a sharp exit, calling two men to "tackle us." The two "bhais", Ashoke Pal and Banamali Maiti, once said, "we don't live here. Only the Brahma Kumaris live here. The bhais who serve here have to leave after nightfall". Later in the course of the conversation they said, "we live in a groundfloor room here and go home sometimes". Pal lives in Burrabazar while Maiti lives in Midnapore.

On telling them that the TNN had already informed the police before coming, we were hastily let off. "If this is a spiritual university or home of some kind, why are they so secretive? Why don't they interact with the neighbourhood?", asks a resident. He informed that the room of the university, that he can see right across his drawing room, normally remained dark at night. "I spotted five to six people who lived here for a few days before the Roy Burman kidnapping. I have already informed the police about this."

"Often at night we could hear women crying loudly. So many young unmarried women and men stay here. Often we saw cars arriving at the gate of the 'university' and young women being brought in. You could see none of these women on the balconies or the terrace of the building. We could only imagine what went on inside the building", said another neighbour.

Inmates of the "university" said that some rivals were trying to malign it. "Das is a godlike figure to us. He has donated this huge house to the 'university', for the cause of the society". Why did the "university" not involve the residents in their programme? "They are all people with vested interests, beyond redemption", was the reply.

Who was the head of the Vishwavidyalaya? "everyone". How many inmates were there? "There's no count." Can you name some of the senior Brahma Kumaris? "we don't know their names."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... 763568.cms

Some old news but interesting.

There is some later news, too. Is this the PBKs or a fraud? 2001 ... It reads like it might be the PBK members as they have listen a center at; "Kolkata: CL-249, Sector-2, Post Salt Lake City, Kolkata-700 091". Salt Lake is an area of Kolkata (Calcutta) and CL part of the address. It is said, "CID investigation revealed that das had changed the name of the organisation twice before."

Then it appears to be some gang and a daughter of a BK/PBK-turned-bar-girl involved in it ... see here. How mysterious.

Police custody for kidnap suspect 15 Aug 2001

Kolkata: Rabindranath Das, one of the main suspects in the abduction of Khadim’s vice-chairman Partho Roy Burman, was produced in the subdivisional judicial magistrate’s court in Alipore on tuesday. He was remanded in police custody till August 24.

Das, a marine engineer, was charged with section 364a of Indian penal code for kidnapping for ransom, section 307 for an attempt to murder, section 120b for criminal conspiracy and section 34 for the acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention.

Interrogating Das, CID sleuths have a fair idea about the local gang behind the abduction of Roy Burman. Das, CID sources claimed, was directly involved in the kidnapping. The kidnappers were holed up in his Salt Lake ashram, Adhyatwik Ishwariya Vishwavidyalaya.

SALT LAKE ASHRAM HEAD HELD IN UP by AVIJIT NANDI MAJUMDAR. Calcutta, Aug. 12

Rabindranath Das, wanted by the CID as a suspect in the kidnapping of Khadim’s vice-chairman Parthapratim Roy Burman, was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police on Saturday. Das, 60, who runs an ashram, Adhyatwik Ishwariya Vishwavidyalay in Salt Lake, was picked up from a ramshackle house on the outskirts of Farukkabad.

Inspector-general of police, CID, V.V. Thambi, felt the arrest of Das can throw up significant leads in the case. “We are on the right track,’’ he said. Das had escaped minutes before CID personnel raided his place last week. Investigations revealed that Das has close links with the Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai underworlds. Three of his associates have been detained for interrogation.

According to Uttar Pradesh inspector-general of police Vikram Singh, Das worked as a “fixer” for a Dubai-based gangster, “identifying potential kidnap targets”. Businessmen with “a lot of liquid cash” are said to be prime targets. He helped identify Roy Burman as a “target” and passed on information about his movements to the Dubai group. Police suspect Das even helped the gang identify prospective hideouts in city suburbs.

“We have evidence to suggest he had considerable say in the kidnap blueprint,’’ said a senior UP police DIG in Lucknow. Police are cross-checking information that the kidnap mastermind from Uttar Pradesh has stayed in his Salt Lake ashram with his associates for “a period of time”.

Sleuths suspect Das worked for the Fazlu-ur-Rehman gang. Fazlu, who hails from Bihar, is currently in Dubai. “Fazlu is a notorious don. We don’t have any extradition treaty with Dubai and hence, it is not possible to bring him to the country to face trial,’’ IGP Vikram Singh said.

Das told investigators that the ransom transaction was conducted through hawala operators in West Asia. “He said the entire abduction was monitored on cellphones from other cities. Das claimed the kingpin was keeping in touch from Mumbai but we have to cross-check and verify his information,’’ a senior officer said. “Das has a dubious record and was arrested twice before on charges of rape,” a UP police officer said.

Initial investigations revealed five youngsters from Sarai Mir village, in Azamgarh district, had arrived in Calcutta and several unidentified people from Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh and Hyderabad have been staying in the ashram for the past two months.

PRODIGAL DAUGHTER, PRETTY AND PIOUS Calcutta, Aug. 21

“Be very careful... Please come back to us... Spare a thought for your child,” Sobharani Pal’s voice on the phone trailed off as she spoke to her daughter, Swati, from a Salt Lake ashram phone.

Investigations in the past 24 hours have revealed that Sobharani Pal, 53, known to inmates of Adhyatwik Ishwariya Vishwavidyalay as “Sobha mata”, kept in touch with her daughter “Manu” ever since she joined the organisation in 1994.

“Sobharani Pal is pining for her daughter,” CID officials said on Tuesday. “I don’t know what will happen to Manu now,” she has been repeatedly telling interrogators, since being informed of Swati’s arrest in Mumbai.

Contrary to her earlier statements to the CID, that she was “not aware” of her daughter’s brush with crime, she broke down in the face of constant grilling by the CID.

“She said that she would often plead with Manu to come out of the world of crime,” an officer said. “Swati used to call the Salt Lake ashram quite frequently to inquire about her mother’s health. This has been corroborated by the ashram inmates,” he added.

Both Sobharani and Sudhir Pal, Swati’s Father, are disciples of the ashram. Sudhir Pal had gone to stay with Swati in Mumbai for two months this year. “Sudhir Bhai told us that his grandson, Farzan, is a lovely child,” an ashram inmate told Metro.

Inmates at the Adhyatwik Ishwariya Vishwavidyalay remember “Manu” as a “slim and beautiful” woman who had visited the ashram three years ago. “She stayed here with us for several days, before heading back to Mumbai,” one of them said. “Sobha mata would spend hours with her daughter on the terrace. On several occasions, she would tell Manu to be careful and stop what she was doing... We didn’t have a clue to what Manu was up to.”

Inmates described Manu as a “cheerful woman” who was “deeply interested” in the Bhagwad Gita. “When she was here, she would spend quite some time in the prayer rooms and join in the bhajans,” said an elderly male inmate. “She would also listen with rapt attention to Rabindranath Das.”

One evening, Swati told Das that she had to head back to Mumbai to be by her ailing husband’s side.

Manu would call her mother regularly from Mumbai. “The phone calls were long and Sobha mata would seem very disturbed... She used to tell us that her daughter was not listening to her pleas and weep silently.”