Paedophile Guru in bid to snare
Charles
From:
Sunday People Newspaper March 12, 2001MI6 are probing bizarre sect's link with the Royals
A PERVERT guru who believes he can sexually abuse young boys because he is GOD has tried to lure Prince Charles into his sinister religious sect.
He has enlisted some of the Prince's closest associates in his move - and the future King has admitted he has considered meeting the swami.
Yet we can reveal the FBI and police forces round the world and even a senior UN organisation are already investigating millionaire mystic Sai Baba over scores of alleged sex and other crimes.
Now MI6 are probing his bizarre movement's links with Buckingham Palace.
Pot-bellied
For, the Sunday People can reveal, he planned to increase his worldwide influence by converting Charles into one of his millions of followers.
The tiny pot-bellied holy man - who wears orange frocks and sports a 70s-style Afro hairdo - enlisted the help of one of the prince's most- trusted advisors.
He hoped that architect Professor Keith Critchlow would be able to persuade Charles to visit his temple, or "ashram", in southern India. Amazingly, we have obtained a copy of a letter which Charles wrote to another of Baba's high-powered disciples within royal circles.
In it, he says: "Keith (Critchlow) has often told me about Sai Baba and the effect he has had on many people and it is wonderful to know of the difference he has made to your life.
"Perhaps I will be able to meet him one day when the time is right."
The letter is signed: "Yours most sincerely, Charles."
At the time, the prince was unaware that Sai Baba was being investigated for sex crimes.
Nor did he know that there were also allegations of fraud and widespread financial corruption. UNESCO has also withdrawn support for a conference they were going to co-organise with Sai Baba.
And the Foreign Office is now warning British travellers to India to be wary of the group.
A senior legal figure linked to Sai Baba's victims discovered the guru's plan to target the prince and alerted M16. Sai Baba, the son of a humble peasant farmer, has a massive worldwide following, including at least 40,000 supporters in the UK.
Millions of families with children flock to his luxurious temple, near Bangalore in southern India, to pay homage. But to gain respectability for his movement, Sai Baba has deliberately set out to target showbiz stars, leading politicians, and royals as VIP supporters.
Among them is 70-year-old Animal Hospital presenter and children's favourite Rolf Harris.
He claimed the guru's teachings had transformed his life and played his famous didgeridoo on a fund-raising CD of mystic chants.
Another disciple is British blues singer Dana Gillespie.
But Sai Baba's biggest dream was to ensnare a member of the British Royal Family.
Concert pianist David Bailey, who got involved with the movement during the early 90s, told how he and Prof Critchlow held several meetings in India with the guru.
And one time Critchlow asked him: "Isn't it time for me to bring Prince Charles out to see you?"
Bailey said: "The organisation loved to get celebrities in the fold. They were invited to Baba's birthday parties.
"At the time I was completely besotted and like other devotees thought I'd win brownie points by recruiting influential people."
Brainwashing
Bailey even tried to "hook" Prince Andrew and Fergie before their marriage broke up.
He said: "I had been asked to organise an evening of music at their home and, to put it bluntly, planned to start brainwashing them.
"But the evening was cancelled at the last minute."
Fergie did later pay Sai Baba a private visit in 1997 on the recommendation of a stress counsellor following her marriage break-up.
The guru likes to amaze followers by passing off cheap conjuring tricks as "miracles" and producing watches and jewellery out of thin air. And he astonished Fergie by making the bangle appear apparently from nowhere.
Bailey finally turned his back on the sect after learning the disgusting truth about Sai Baba's sexual perversions.
He has spent the last two years exposing the bogus holy man, who likes to rub oil into boys' genitals claiming it helps release their sexual tension.
Bailey, who once worked as a music teacher at the Indian temple, explained: "To my horror, I found out he was a homosexual paedophile."
Now every attempt is being made to ensure Sai Baba is kept away from Charles and other royals.