Who Is Santosh Singh Bhadoria, Popularly Known As Karauli Sarkar Of Kanpur?

Santosh Singh Bhadoria's Ashram is spread across 14 acres and is said to have assets worth crores of rupees.

Bhadoria became the farmers' leader, supposedly to escape the police before he started illegally occupying the land.

Yet another religious preacher is hitting headlines nowadays and he is popularly known as Karauli Sarkar of Kanpur. Though the religious preacher is very popular among devotees and a huge crowd gathers at his prayer meets, he was caught in a controversy after a man alleged that he was assaulted by the supporters of religious preacher Santosh Singh Bhadoria. The man claimed that he did not benefit from the preacher's chanting, as promised, and had complained about the incident. This angered Bhadoria and he asked his supporters to thrash the man.

Who is Santosh Singh Bhadoria?

According to Zee News, Bhadoria is holding his Darbar in Kanpur for the last three years. His Ashram is spread across 14 acres and is said to have assets worth crores of rupees. Over three thousand followers visit his Ashram every day. His followers are not only in India but across several countries. Bhadoria has deployed many gunners to secure his Ashram. 

News agency IANS reported quoting police sources that there is a list of criminal cases against Bhadoria. Many cases were registered against Bhadoria between 1992-1995 including that of murder and 7 CLA cases. In fact, the National Security Act was also invoked against Bhadoria in 1994, reported Zee News. He was booked under the NSA on August 14, 1994, on the orders of the then-District Magistrate Dinesh Singh.

Talking to a Zee News reporter, Bhadoria said that even the NSA case was filed against him when he was into politics. He alleged that attempts are being made to suppress Sanatan dharma and thus false cases were registered against him. 

Bhadoria became the farmers' leader, supposedly to escape the police before he started illegally occupying the land. Even in the Kotwali police station area, he faces allegations of illegally occupying church land. Later, he started uploading videos of solving problems with mantras on his YouTube channel -- Karauli Baba, which has 93,000 subscribers.

Rate list for Karauli Sarkar Darbar

According to reports, the entry slip of the darbar costs Rs 2600 while the emergency treatment cost is Rs 1.51 lakh. The darbar offers 'Siddha Hawan Kit' for Rs 3550 and nine mandatory 'Hawan Kit' costs Rs 31,500. The Karauli Ashram sells 'Siddha Yantra' for Rs 500, 'Siddha Bandhan' for Rs 100, and 'Siddha Agiyari' for Rs 900 among other things. Baba claims to cure people just by chanting mantras. In some videos, he was even seen blessing people to increase their height.

आजकल एक और नए बाबा, संतोष भदौरिया उर्फ करौली बाबा मार्केट में हैं...देखिए कैसा चमत्कार कर बैठे,सबके सामने।

अंधविश्वास का #मोमेंच सिर चढ़ कर बोल रहा है, आज के अमृतकाल में। pic.twitter.com/DLZiYeQ7hI — Surya Pratap Singh IAS Rtd. (@suryapsingh_IAS) March 21, 2023

What is the recent controversy surrounding Karauli Sarkar?

Siddharth Chaudhary, a doctor by profession and a devotee of Santosh Bhadoria, has filed a complaint with the Bidhnu police station. He said in his complaint that he used to watch Santosh Bhadoria's videos on YouTube and was impressed by them. Later, he went to his ashram from Noida with his father and wife. "I told Baba (Santosh Singh Bhadoria) that I was troubled. He blew through the mike and said `Namah Shivay` twice -- to show magic -- though I did not feel anything. When I complained, he sent his bouncers at me and got me thrashed," said Chaudhary.

Police have registered cases under sections 323, 504 and 325 of the Indian Penal Code. Meanwhile, Bhadoria has refuted the allegation and demanded a fair probe. Speaking about the incident, the preacher said that this was a conspiracy and that the doctor was planted to tarnish his image. He added the doctor could be seen thanking him before leaving in the CCTV video. When asked if he had the CCTV footage to support his claim, Bhadoria said that since CCTV data could be stored only for 14 days, he will not be able to provide the recordings. (With inputs from agencies)