CHENNAI, May 1: The Madras High Court (HC) yesterday admitted a habeas corpus writ petition alleging that `Kalki Bhagwan', a religious cult leader, was being illegally detained by his main disciples.

A Division Bench, comprising Justices M S Janarthanam and K Natarajan, ordered issue of notices to the State Government, police, and the administrators of the ashram, situated at Nemam, a suburb of Chennai.

The petition, filed by D Gopalan, a well-known public interest litigant, seeks a direction to the respondents to produce `Kalki Bhagwan', whose real name is Vijayakumar, a former Life Insurance Corporation of India employee, in court and set him at liberty.

The petitioner alleged that the administrators were involved in illegal activities and ruining the `Bhagwan's' name. They were mesmerising young girls and boys and taking them into the ashram, which was at a secret place. Nobody could say where the `Bhagwan' was, the petitioner said, adding, he apprehended danger to him. The ashram activities are under investigation by the police after several parents complained that their children were being enticed to join it. However, the administrators have sought to clarify that all of them had joined voluntarily. `Kalki' would give darshan only in 1998, they have said.

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