Departed godman Satya Sai Baba’s personal attendant and caregiver Satyajit, who was ruling the roost in Prashanti Nilayam till Baba was alive, is likely to be kicked out from the ashram.
An indication to this effect was given by trust members at a press conference on Thursday. Speaking on behalf of the members, trustee Venu Srinivasan denied the reports that Baba had left a will, handing over the responsibilities of managing his multi-thousand crore spiritual empire to Satyajit.
“There is no question of Baba leaving any will, since he had no properties or assets or money in his name. Everything is in the name of the trust, of which Baba was the chairman,” he said.
Srinivasan also made it clear that Baba had never indicated to any of the trustees that he wanted to take Satyajit into the trust. “We did not get any such instructions from the Baba. Satyajit was an ex-student of the Satya Sai University and was only a worker in the ashram, taking salary from the trust. He had no say whatsoever in the trust affairs or activities,” the trustees said.
There were reports that Satyajit had disclosed to the trust, saying Baba had, in deed, left a will, handing over all the responsibilities over the trust to him. He said he would disclose the will in the presence of legal advisors after Baba’s last rites are completed.
The 33-year old MBA graduate from Satya Sai University, Satyajit was specifically chosen by Baba to take care of his “personal” needs. Over years, Satyajit has come to be regarded as the most powerful man in Baba’s inner circle.
A recent letter released by Prof Shyam Sunder, who had been associated with Prashanti Nilayam since 1968 and was appointed as manager of the stores in 2005, made several startling allegations against Satyajit.
According to the letter, many servants were harassed and “exploited” by Satyajit. “I know a kitchen worker named Kushal. In the morning, he used to go upstairs and used to come back crying. It was continuing for months and he told his parents the entire incident that is taking place upstairs. His parents complained to the Ashram authorities, but nothing happened. Before leaving, he told me that Satyajit used to open his pant and on his resistance, he used to beat him,” the letter said.
Prof Shyam Sunder also recalled a similar incident of another worker Girish. “Satyajit used ot come downstairs between 10 to 10.30 pm. He used to remain in the kitchen for about 15-20 minutes and continuously gaze into his eyes till he came into his clutches. After that, we do not know what happened, but he used to go upstairs and remain there for about two hours,” the professor said.
He further pointed out that it was Satyajit and his associates who had been administering sleeping pills to Sai Baba for the last six years.
“No doctor can visit Swami until Satyajit wants it. At what time Swami will give darshan was the decision of Satyajit and whether he wants to bring down Swami for darshan was his own prerogative,” he said.
