Ramdev’s Rs 1100 cr empire under scanner

Agencies

New Delhi, 08 June 2011: Baba Ramdev is back in Haridwar but it looks like it’s not going to be an easy run for him anymore. The government is out to reveal the skeletons in his closet.

From Yoga guru to would be politician to business tycoon, the meteoric rise of Baba Ramdev and his Yoga and ayurveda empire is now getting as much attention as his fight against corruption.

The government is hot on his trail, some of the details made available by government sources to CNN-IBN reveals a maze of companies that were run and maintained by Baba’s key men.

Over 200 businesses from broadcasting companies including Aastha TV to food parks are run by his trusted lieutenants Acharya Balkrishna and Mukta Anand. There are no specific charges against them that the finance ministry is looking at but a detailed income tax survey is currently being done.

Even Hindu spiritual leaders want Ramdev’s assets probed.

"Ramdev has a lot of land and assets worth crores. These should be probed as well," said Puri shankaracharya Swami Adhokshjanand Tirtha.

And questions are also being asked about Balkrishna’s nationality, who has mysteriously disappeared from public view after the midnight swoop at the Ramlila maidan.

"Balkrishna is a Nepalese citizen. He committed a crime there and came to India. He has three passports. They should be investigated. He is a thug," said Digvijay Singh.

If that is not enough, it now appears that Baba Ramdev has run foul of the USFDA. He has been denied permission to sell ayurveda products in the United States. The USFDA has levelled allegations of misbranding, selling products that are either not listed or not approved.

The health ministry says it will scrutinise the drug business of Baba Ramdev.

"We will look at these issues once the dust settles," said Ghulam Nabi Azad.

This is not the first brush with controversy for Ramdev. In January 2006 also charges of land grab had surfaced. CNN-IBN had then reported that Ramdev’s Patanjali Peeth Yog had grabbed government land. Now the Roorkee SDM has confirmed a farm land grab of over 2.98 hectares. Asked about allegations of land grab against the Divya Yog trust in 2006, this is how Acharya Balkrishna reacted in January 2006.

"Who are you to ask me? Who do you think you are. I won’t reply," he said.

Baba Ramdev’s fight against corruption has opened him to many charges and many inquiries into the rise and rise of his business in the last eight years. But an aggressive government probe at this point could be seen as witch hunt of a baba who dared the Congress and made it quite uncomfortable for them.