Nithyananda files criminal complaint against Sun TV COO Hansraj Saxena

CHENNAI: Self-styled godman Nithyananda on Wednesday filed a criminal complaint against Sun TV Chief Operating Officer Hansraj Saxena and eight others for airing "morphed visuals" showing him in a compromising position with an actress last year.

This is the second complaint filed by Nithyananda and his ashram against the Sun TV Network on the same charges.

In his complaint filed with city police commissionerate, Nithya Atmaprabhananda, Manager of Nithyananda's Dhyanapeeta Charitable Trust, levied charges including extortion, criminal intimidation and assault, among others, against Saxena, his aide Ayyappan and Tamil bi-weekly Nakheeran Editor R Gopal among others.

Atmaprabhananda alleged that they had demanded money to stop airing the video footage purportedly showing Nithyananda and South Indian actress, Ranjitha. He also charged that he had been attacked by Aiyappan.

Ranjitha had also filed a complaint yesterday alleging her pictures were morphed and that some persons had demanded money from her to stop airing the video.

Nithyananda, who addressed a press meet here, maintained that the images in the video were morphed and said a planned attack had been launched against him and his devotees.

To a question, he said he was filing the complaint now as there was no "conducive atmosphere" during the previous regime. However, he said he did not have any problems with DMK.

After a controversy broke out following the telecast of the video footage in March last year, Nithyananda was reported absconding for several weeks before his arrest in Himachal Pradesh. He is facing criminal charges, including rape and a case is pending in a court in Ramanagara near Bangalore.

Saxena is already in police custody in a cheating case filed by a Salem-based film distributor.