New Zealand Lawyer Exposes Official Cover Up of Killings In Sathya Sai Baba Bedroom

Long before worldwide allegations of Sathya Sai Baba’s serial sexual abuse of boys and young men began to surface in earnest – circa AD 2000 – notable individuals shocked by signs of cover up – started to analyze situations, and leave the Sathya Sai Baba camp. For an example of early investigators, see the article (I include it below) by Warren C. Pyke LLN (Hons.) LLM (VUW), Barrister, New Zealand 3-3-1993: Sathya Sai Baba Murders Evidence (A New Zealand Barrister Analyses Police Evidence).

Another earlier investigator of various serious allegations against Sathya Sai Baba was Terry Gallagher, an agricultural scientist and businessman who, in consequence of his findings, resigned as head of the Sathya Sai Organization in Australia. See: 

Terry Gallagher’s Testimony

I have recently blogged on an outspoken, retired senior Indian policeman,V. J. Ram, whose work as a detective won him a Presidential Medal.

Ram refers to appalling instances of the Sathya Sai Baba official ashram and Indian government cover up of the killings. See:

Senior Indian Policeman (Rtd) Speaks Out About Sathya Sai Baba Murders Cover Up

See, too, testimony to the BBC of former Home Secretary of Andhra Pradesh (Sathya Sai Baba’s State in South India):

Film Clip of V.P.B. Nair making his statement

Quote:

Tanya Datta (BBC): Velayudhan Nair rejects the police version of events. He should know. Until two thousand and two he was Home Secretary of Andhra Pradesh and in charge of the state police. On coming to office he examined the files and found that the original police report was riddled with lies and inconsistencies. This was later exposed by a CID investigation.
VPB Nair: Two or three daggers cannot be a match to roaring guns. So this story of the police being attacked and the police shooting in self-defence is totally baseless.
Tanya Datta: So are you suggesting that the police executed the boys that night?

VPB Nair: In absolute… this is absolute cold-blooded murder.

Serious Issues Raised By New Zealand Lawyer

Document by:  Warren C. Pyke LLN (Hons.) LLM (VUW), Barrister, New Zealand 3-3-1993.

I COMMENT ON THE Remand Report of the Superintendent of Police, CID Cuddapah. Assuming that his findings have not been materially contradicted, which is the position as I understand it, his report clearly calls for a thorough and impartial inquiry into the deaths in Sai Baba’s room. Any one of the following grounds would be sufficient in my opinion, but combined the case for such an inquiry is overwhelming.

a) The contradictory eye-witness evidence of V. Jagadish, contradictory that is to the local Police Officer’s statements – the fact that he observed the broken door before the police arrived and was possibly the last independent witness to speak to the deceased makes his evidence significant and most material;

b) The contradictory eye-witness evidence of D. Peddireddy, contradictory that is to the local Police Officer’s statements – he says that he broke the wooden plank that was holding the door and saw the deceased in the room after he did so, once again this is most significant material and corroborates the evidence of Jagadish;

c) The absence of injury to the CI and the nature of the minor injuries to the other Police Constables is inconsistent with their story of a struggle and their need to open fire, but is not inconsistent (I deliberately use a double negative here) with the account of Jagadish and Peddireddy;

d) The position of the deceased after death is inconsistent with the Police version but consistent with them still being in the room after the door was broken, as observed by Jagadish and Peddireddy;

e) The nature of the gunshot wounds to the deceased are entirely inconsistent with the Police Officer’s claim of self-defence but are entirely consistent with a very close range discharge;

f) The fact that the bodies were moved is sufficient to warrant an inquiry as this clearly shows that the crime scene was deliberately altered after the fact;

g) The absence of possession by the deceased of the alleged knives after death strongly suggests that they posed no threat to the Officers, although it cannot be ruled out that the knives were dropped in the alleged melee;

h) The evidence about when the shots were heard: independent and reputable witnesses, Balachandra, Sahani, Vatsava all say 1 a.m., which is consistent with the post mortem report as to time of death; this contradicts the Police evidence by a full 1 ½ hours (11.30 p.m. cf 1 a.m.): this cannot be explained by any suggested error in the post mortem;

i) The number of rounds discharged and the position of the bullets after firing show that some firing was not directed at a specific target. Given the police assertion of self-defence which, if believed, would suggest that the firing would have been carefully aimed so as to avoid shooting their fellow officers (given the confined space), the Police evidence as to the nature of their firing is incredible.

Given the matters outlined in the Remand Report, the failure to further investigate and prosecute the Police Officers involved is a shame and a disgrace to the law enforcement body responsible and to the judiciary who have consistently failed to intervene. No self-respecting and principled law enforcement body or judicial system would tolerate such a situation. In the case of multiple murders, there can be no justification for ignoring.

Warren C. Pyke, (4th Floor, NZI Building, Garden Place, Hamilton, New Zealand).

It is most instructive to read these questionings of the New Zealand lawyer alongside details in the retired senior Indian policeman V.J.Ram’s revelations of years later. These suggest but a little of the huge corruption in which Sathya Sai Baba and his key servitors have for so long been involved:

Excerpt from ‘The Godmen of India’, 2005

Further Reading

The Unresolved, Covered-Up 1993 Murders in Sathya Sai Baba’s Bedroom Revisited. By Robert Priddy – founder member & office-bearer Oslo Centre 1983, Chairman from 1987 while acting national contact-person of the Sathya Sai Organisation, Norway 1987-2000

Indian Newspaper Reports of Killings In Sai Baba’s Bedroom

Attempts – all to no avail (and with no written or spoken response back to us) – were made by a representative international former devotee group (JuST) to obtain reasonable answers from Sathya Sai Baba’s peak organizational body. See here:

Open letter to the Prashanthi Council – Michael Goldstein, G. Venkataraman

Formal Appeal to the Prashanthi Council