Self-styled godman Chandraswami dead

Controversial godman Chandraswami — close friend of a Prime Minister and allegedly involved in the assassination of another — died in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Chandraswami, who had suffered a stroke, died at the Apollo Hospital at age of 66.

Chandraswami, whose actual name was Nemi Chand, shot to fame as an astrologer.

He wielded enormous power during the regime of then PM PV Narasimha Rao. He was seen as one of Rao’s trusted aides and advisers.

Often mired in controversy, his name cropped up in investigations into the assassination of former PM Rajiv Gandhi. In its report on the assassination, the Jain Commission dedicated a volume to his alleged involvement in the case.

Allegations of financial irregularities were often levelled at the long haired, white robed self-proclaimed godman. In 1996, he was arrested on charges of defrauding a London-based businessman.

He also faced charges for repeatedly violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. Chandraswami was accused of financial irregularities. In 1996 he was arrested on charges of defrauding a London-based businessman of $100,000. He faced charges of violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act.

Soon after Rao became Prime Minister in 1991, Chandraswami built an ashram known as Vishwa Dharmayatan Sanathan in Delhi's Qutub Institutional Area. The land for the ashram was allotted by Indira Gandhi.

Chandraswami is said to have dispensed spiritual advice to the late British PM Margaret Thatcher, the Sultan of Brunei, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain and actress Elizabeth Taylor.