ON THE MURDERS IN SAI BABA'S BEDROOM by Basava Premanand e-mail, click here

Reply to Mr. Gèrald Morèno

ON HIS ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON HIS WEBSITE
http://www.saisathyasai.com/baba/Ex-Baba.com/Murders/murders-basava-premanand.html

Whether intentional or not, Basava Premanand gave a non-operable link to my site. I have provided the correct link above. If Premanand had actually read my original article, he should have known the correct URL. He does not know. Consequently, it appears he is purposely trying to misdirect people to the wrong page (which he has done on all his other responses as well).

under 'BASAVA PREMANAND : DECEPTION'

Mr. Morèno's comments appear in bold black face, and mine are in regular case navy blue type.

GM : "Basava Premanand, author of Murders in Sai Baba's Bed Room, speculates and draws conclusions by using newspaper clippings! Basava Premanand, India's leading rationalist and skeptic, irrationally and septically speculates on what happened on June 6th, 1993"

Where did I state that I speculated and drew conclusions by using newspaper clippings? It is GM's conclusion. It is not there in the references on which he has speculated.
My writ petition in High Court etc., was only for a CBI enquiry and not to a court where I have to present witnesses and prove the case. Murders are police cases and it is the responsibility of the police to investigate and arrest the culprits and produce them in the court along with witnesses.
Gèrald Morèno whom I do not know did not post to me a copy of his speculations so as to ask me for clarifications about the case.
All the points raised by him are from the references on which he based his speculations in the above article.
Gèrald Morèno did not care to read my book "Murders in Sai Baba's Bed Room" wherein all his speculations would have got answered. He only quoted the articles in the Ex-baba.com to come to speculations, while my book comes to 912 printed pages and it is a critical analysis of the records which I could collect including newspaper clippings.
I do not use such demeaning words as he uses against me. I cannot use them as they are the words used by godmen and their followers who have no real answers to the questions I have asked in page, 363 to 403 in Vol II of the book. He has not dared to answer even one of my questions, nor did he interview the persons whom he quoted to find out whether they are true or not.
Look at the box wherein he refers to "Basava Premanand, India's leading rationalist and skeptic, irrationally and septically speculates on what happened on June 6th, 1993":

I first thought the word 'septically' was a spelling mistake but before this word he had used the word 'skeptic'. So it was not a spelling mistake – I looked to the Readers Digest Universal Dictionary and the meaning given is:
1. of, pertaining to , characterised by or of the nature of sepsis.
2. causing sepsis; putrefactive, putrefying, septic, rotten.

I also turned to the meaning of sepsis:
1. The presence of pus-forming micro organisms in the blood or tissues.
2. A putrefactive process in the body, putrefaction, to make rotten.
I am not going to use any of the 'septic' words which Gèrald Morèno is using in his article against me.

I am well-accustomed to the ploys of SSB, his organisation and other supporters whose agenda is to discredit those who seriously question their conduct and beliefs, such as the Ex Baba group, myself and other prominent critics. Now that criticisms are being aired to millions in many countries by the BBC and Danish television documentaries ('The Secret Swami' and 'Seduced), the Sai Baba forces are desperate to denigrate and vilify those who speak out against them.

My Response: First of all, Premanand incorrectly quotes me. Premanand cited me as saying, "Basava Premanand, author of Murders in Sai Baba's Bed Room, speculates and draws conclusions by using newspaper clippings! Basava Premanand, India's leading rationalist and skeptic, irrationally and septically speculates on what happened on June 6th, 1993". The actual quote is, "Basava Premanand, India's leading rationalist and skeptic, irrationally and septically speculates on what happened on June 6th, 1993". Premanand's quote of "Basava Premanand, author of Murders in Sai Baba's Bed Room, speculates and draws conclusions by using newspaper clippings!" was not taken directly from the text to my article. It was taken from the metatag title information, which is not part of the actual article, but search-engine information. Consequently, I will address my newspaper clippings allegation under the appropriate section.

Premanand said, "My writ petition in High Court etc., was only for a CBI enquiry and not to a court where I have to present witnesses and prove the case." Of course, the big question is why Premanand did not file a court case if he had so many material witnesses who uncovered evidence to SSB's complicity in the 1993 police shootings? As a matter of fact, at http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/articles/writpetition.html Premanand's Writ Petition is provided. The entire purpose of the Writ Petition was to provide evidence that would warrant a CBI investigation due to other agencies acting unlawfully, failing to execute jurisdiction or being negligent in their public duty. In his Writ Petition, Premanand had to show that he had a legal basis that warranted a CBI investigation into the police shootings that occurred on June 6th 1996, that resulted the deaths of 6 people.

In the writ petition, Premanand made 26 affirmations. Out of these 26 affirmations, 1-4, 6-8, most of 9, 10-12 and 18 had absolutely nothing to do with the June 6th 1993 events. It is evident that Premanand foresaw that his request might be dismissed and thereby tried to make as many irrelevant claims as he could (in case his writ petition was dismissed, which it was).

Premanand said, "My writ petition in High Court etc., was only for a CBI enquiry and not to a court where I have to present witnesses and prove the case." The purpose of the writ petition was to provide evidence that would show that the police were negligent and failed to act. If the newspaper reporters provided affidavits to the evidence they claim they found, this would prove that the police were negligent and failed to act on this evidence. If these newspaper reporters provided affidavits on behalf of Premanand, this would have all but guranteed a bona fide warrant for a CBI inquiry. However, Premanand failed to obtain any affidavits or sworn testimonies from newspaper reporters about the evidence they claimed they uncovered. Why would Premanand withhold this crucial information in his Writ Petition if this would have all but guranteed a CBI inquiry? Instead, Premanand cited Tal Brooke's book, Lord of The Air (written 30+ years ago, whose alleged witnesses have never come forward to corroborate Tal Brooke's stories). One of Premanand's annexures was the following "12) In fact, Tal Brooke one of the Baba's closest American devotees, has revealed the seamy side of the Baba's empire when he denounces the latter as a 'hermaphrodite & a sexual pervert' in his book 'Lord of the Air'". Oh, that sounds like a rational thing to do; cite a book, but forget the newspaper reporters who claimed to have uncovered actual evidence relevant to the purpose of the writ petition!

GM Referenced From These Pages:
1. http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/articles/highintrigue.html
2. http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/articles/courtrecords.html
3. http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex_baba/engels/murders/murders.html
4. http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/articles/whomurdered.html
5. http://home.no.net/anir/Sai/enigma/moremurders.htm

No.1 is a published article by The Week and Gèrald Morèno shows not sign of having contacted The Week to find whether there is anything false in the article copied from my book Murders in Sai Baba's Bed Room Vol II page 213 to 222 No. 2 to 5are from my book "Murders in Sai Baba's Bed Room". No. 6 an article by Beatrice Newberry published (2000-12-24) in The Independent, London. No. 7 from Hari Sampath's internet comments.. London.

My Response: The article in question, The Week, was published in 1993 and written by a person who only gives his/her initials as "MRD". This anonymous author failed to cite any references as to where he/she obtained the information used to write this article (which is probably why Premanand likes it). It is abundantly clear that the author gathered information from newspaper clipping, the FIR and from mental imaginations. For example, "MRD" claimed that the stairs that lead to SSB room were "wooden stairs" (it is well known they are cement). Another quote said, "Said a police officer: 'There was no competent senior officer. Someone with presence of mind would not have reacted like that. They just became trigger-happy.'" This quote sounds very similar to the one made in The Deccan Chronicle, Hyderbad (26-6-1993), which said, "Thus the entire evidence was wiped out in a matter of seconds by the trigger-happy policemen." Consequently, this poorly referenced article provides no proof as to what happened on June 6th 1993.

GM : Basava Premanand is known as India's "Gurubuster" and is reputed as the oldest member of India's International Brotherhood of Magicians.

I do not know from where Gèrald Morèno got the above information. I searched all his references and I could not find it. There are also several factual mistakes in the article by Beatrice Newberry. In ref no.7 she wrote: "At 71 B.Premanand is the oldest member of the group and its youngest at heart" There is another sentence: "For while other members of India's International Brotherhood of Magicians are hobbyists, Premanand's mission is more ambitious – to expose any man who pretends his magic tricks are miracles" I did not know that Beatrice Newberry got it wrong. If she had sent the manuscript of the article I would have corrected it. It is also surprising that GM did not contact her or the newspaper "The Independent-London" to check whether the article was without any mistakes. He did not do it for reasons best known to him.

My Response: Click Here to view the bbc.co.uk site (which broadcast the Secret Swami documentary) which said, "...and at the age of 73 he is the oldest member of India's International Brotherhood of Magicians". Did the BBC misreport the facts about Premanand? This was the same BBC that investigated and broadcast the Secret Swami documentary. If the BBC could not get even the most basic information right, about Basava Premanand, what does this say about the information on the Secret Swami documentary?

The article by Beatrice Newberry had been published on Anti-Sai Sites since December 2000! It is "surprising" that Anti-Sai Activists did not contact Mrs. Newberry or "the newspaper 'The Independent-London' to check whether the article was without any mistakes". I guess Anti-Sai Activists failed to check "for reasons best known to" them. Consequently, Premanand is directly accusing Anti-Sai Activists of publishing misinformation on their sites. If Anti-Sai Activists fail to check the articles they publish on their sites, what does this say about their research? One would think that Anti-Sai Activists would at least accurately represent Premanand. Apparently, that is not the case.

Also, my references are for the main points made in my article. I did not reference every single point I made. As one will see, Premanand also does not reference every single point he makes. If Premanand wants me to reference everything, so should he.

IBM is an International organisation registered in United States and I am a member of IBM India Ring No.261. I am the oldest member in this Ring. There are hundreds of Rings over the world and I have myself met many old magicians who are much older than me. What Beatrice Newberry has called me is "India 's Chief Fakir-Buster."

My Response: I did not get this information from Beatrice Newberry. Click Here to view the bbc.co.uk site (which investigated and broadcast the Secret Swami documentary) which said, "...and at the age of 73 he is the oldest member of India's International Brotherhood of Magicians". View the previous response for a fuller explanation.

GM : He is also said to be convener of the Federation of Indian Rationalists (which is headed by the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) and he is also the editor of a monthly journal, called the "Indian Skeptic".

I am the founder convener of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (GM has made a mistake in the name) and his next mistake: it is not headed by the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. Both are different organisations. I believe that he took this information from Beatrice Newberry's article, but did not contact me as to how far it is correct. I am not responsible for the mistakes others make. Moreover GM has conveniently left out the word "Committee" from the second organisation. This proves how poor his observation is. What Beatrice Newberry stated was: "that energy has also enabled him to fulfill joint roles as head of the Indian Rationalist Society, President of the Committee for Scientific Investigation of claims of the Paranormal." Here, I am not the president of, CSICOP which is registered in US and the Chairman of which is Dr. Paul Kurtz. There are several committees in many parts of the world and I am only the convener of the Indian CSICOP. Yes, I am the Editor of Indian Skeptic.

My Response: I got this information, once again, from the bbc.co.uk site (which investigated and broadcast the Secret Swami documentary). Click Here to view the following quote: "He is also convenor of the Federation of Indian Rationalists, head of the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal and editor of a monthly journal." Apparently, the BBC made mistakes with basic information about Premanand (and who knows what other mistakes they made with the Secret Swami documentary). I will update my article to reflect the information that Premanand gives. Instead of making blind assumptions and saying that he "believes" that I took my information from Beatrice Newberry's article, Premanand should have contacted me first to get the correct information. If Premanand feels that I should contact him, for every single detail, he should similarly contact me, for every single detail.

GM: However, there is no information regarding his education and qualifications. All articles that pertain to him give his only qualifications as being an "amateur magician" and a "fanatic" or "irreverent" rationalist. That's it. Why everyone is silent in regards to his education is a mystery. This is important because Basava Premanand plays the role of a forensic expert in the book he wrote about SSB and the murders. The silence in regards to Basava Premanand's education might have to do with the fact that he did not get one:

I have copied about thousand pages of GM's vilifying articles, but I could not find in any his age, educational qualifications and biodata. At least he has got some information about me from the Beatrice Newberry article. Morèno has not read the Beatrice Newberry article properly. She actually stated: "it was the start of a rebellious school career, at the end of which Premanand was thrown out for joining the student movement for independence. From the age of 12, Premanand was given an imaginative schooling at home". It was while studying in the 8th standard that I was dismissed from school for my participation in the Independence Movement. If he had used his wits, he could have worked out in which class I was then studying (at the age of 12). Even with intelligence he could not have made out this fact, as I got two double promotions. I wonder how he speculated without any investigations that my only qualifications are as an amateur magician, a fanatic or irreverent rationalist. These qualifications should be there in the references given by GM. But none exist except in the Newberry article, which is quite different from what Morèno has quoted. It stated: "Over the years, his acts have become increasingly irreverent, ridiculing every trickster by name, from the smallest Baba upwards". It is not necessary that I am a forensic expert. I do not know whether Morèno is one. He has not introduced himself. I can get opinions from the forensic experts and Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, which is a life member of our committee, as is Dr. P.M. Bhargava, who was the founder director of CCMB.

My Response: No Where, in the Writ Petition or other Court Documents, was Dr. P.M. Bhargava's name cited. Consequently, Premanand's assumptions (about the 1993 police shootings) were the result of his speculations by playing the role of a forensic expert, which he has no known education. Although Premanand may be able to get "opinions" from Dr. P.M. Bhargava, it is indeed suspicious that Premanand failed to cite an alleged forensic expert either in the Writ Petition or anywhere else for that matter. Again, if Premanand had a sworn affidavit by a forensic expert, this would have strengthened his case for a CBI inquiry. Premanand did not provide this type of crucial information, yet he wonders why his request for a CBI inquiry was dismissed!

Furthermore, the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology is not a forensic center (Ref. 1). Since the CCMB does deal with genetic data and DNA (which was never used in the police shootings investigation), Premanand's citing the CCMB is nothing more than a smoke-screen. CCMB is a modern biology center whose research can be used by forensics, but is not a forensic center. Dr. PM Bhargava is a molecular biologist, not a forensic expert. The most that a molecular biologist can do is DNA fingerprinting, which was (as far as I am aware) never a factor in the investigation.

Premanand said "I have copied about thousand pages of GM's vilifying articles...". My site is only composed of around 260 pages (minus the Google and Forum caches and screencaptures, which were not written by me). I do not have "about a thousand pages" on my site. Why is Premanand resorting to such bloated exaggerations? If Premanand used his wits, he would have known that, in the USA, we do not go by "standard" but by "grade". I know this is getting terribly redundant, but on the bbc.co.uk site, they refer to him as "The irreverant Mr Premanand". Mrs. Newberry also said, "his acts have become increasingly irreverent". Consequently, Premanand's "irreverence" is well known.

I never claimed to be a forensic expert, nor do I pretend to be one by making blind assumptions based on pictures and documents, many years after the fact, to which I was never personally present.

GM : Basava Premanand was thrown out of school at the age of 12 due to a political dispute in which his parents refused to fill in a religion or caste on his school application form.

Here again Morèno is confusing readers. I quote what Newberry wrote: "His parents took the unorthodox view that all religions were the same. When it was time to enroll Premanand at the local school, they refused to fill in his religion or caste on the application form. It was the start of a rebellious school career". I am wondering how he twisted this to suit him. Why I was dismissed from school has been explained in the previous reply, which I quote again: "It was the start of a rebellious school career, at the end of which Premanand was thrown out for joining the student movement for independence".

GM : Consequently, Basava Premanand was home taught

What Beatrice stated was: "Instead from the age 12, Premanand was given an imaginative schooling at home" In actual fact, my father appointed a B.Sc. teacher to help me (and my younger brother) to learn science until I reached B.Sc., standard in these years. It was not 4 hours teaching as in schools and colleges, but 10 to 12 hours learning with practicals.

My Response: The full quote reads "His parents took the unorthodox view that all religions were the same. When it was time to enrol Premanand at the local school, they refused to fill in his religion or caste on the application form. It was the start of a rebellious school career, at the end of which Premanand was thrown out for joining the student movement for independence. When a teacher came to his house asking Premanand's father to beg for a pardon, he refused on the grounds that his son had done nothing wrong. Instead, from the age of 12, Premanand was given an imaginative schooling at home. His father had a laboratory in the garden shed which he used for concocting products for his various soap and ink manufacturing businesses." As one can see, Mrs. Newberry said that at the age of 12 he was given an "imaginative schooling at home". To me, this means he was "home taught" starting at the age of 12, because he had to be thrown out of school prior to being home taught. Premanand does not dispute that he was home taught from the age of 12, so my comments are not incorrect.

GM : One day, Basava Premanand broke a mercury thermometer and hid it under his bed on an aluminum plate, exposing himself directly to toxic mercury fumes (which can cause psychological disturbances). Despite his father being knowledgeable in science, Basava Premanand's father ordered him to wash the plate vigorously, exposing him, once again, directly to toxic mercury. Basava Premanand supposedly experimented many times with mercury, as he claims that aluminum reacting with mercury and moisture produce aluminum oxide ash (vibhuti).

Is this to brain-wash people subtly that I have psychological disturbances? A frequently used attack on those who has searching questions is to suggest that the critic is mentally unsound. This shameful, intellectually dishonest tactic deals in innuendo, which replaces facts and rational argumentation. GM has also used this technique on the Internet to try to defame other critics of Sai Baba, such as a very convincing alleging victim of Sai Baba's sexual abuse, Said Khorramshahgol. (Read about it here)

My Response: It is a fact that mercury poisoning can cause psychological disturbances (Ref. 2). I did not say that Premanand had psychological disturbances. I specifically said that mercury fumes can cause psychological disturbances (a known fact). If Premanand is unaware that mercury is a poison and it can cause numerous psychological disturbances, that is his fault for not properly educating himself (despite receiving home schooling from a "B.Sc teacher" up to the "B.Sc. standard").

Regarding Said (Afshin) Khorramshahgol, Afshin portrayed himself as suffering trauma, due to being sexually abused by SSB, however, Afshin turns right around and made jokes (Click Here) about masturbation, bestiality, having oral sex where there would not be "too many witnesses" and ascribing lewd, sexual comments to the Koran (despite allegedly being a Muslim)! Afshin also repeatedly and directly accused another person as being a "schizo", "pschizophrenic lunatic", "brainwashed idiot" and "parnoid and delusional". Premanand says absolutely nothing about Afshin's behavior or language! This speaks volumes about Premanand and his hypocrisy. I think the general public is perfectly entitled to know about this type of behavior from Afshin. Apparently, Premanand thinks this type of behavior is justified (Premanand implied he read my articles about Afshin). Click Here to view my Witnesses Page that talks about Afshin and his two responses to me.

As the above speculation was made by GM from the Newberry article, I shall quote what she wrote: "One day, I broke my father's thermometer, so I hid it on an aluminium plate under my bed. When my father found it out, he ordered me to wash the plate vigorously, but, when I did, a frothy grey substance appeared."

My Response: Mercury does not stay in liquid form. It evaporates into vapors that are inhaled and can cause poisoning. Guess Premanand is not aware of this basic scientific fact, despite being educated upto the equivalent of a "B.Sc standard"?

Beatrice Newberry has mistaken what I narrated. Aluminum will not react with mercury in moisture and produce a grey substance. In my accident of breaking the thermometer, I had collected and poured it in a glass bottle and a stopper and the glass pieces of the thermometer were kept in an aluminium plate which was available then and kept under the lab table. When father wanted the thermometer for his experiments I confessed and when he asked me what happened to the mercury and the broken glass pieces I showed him the bottle and the glass pieces in the aluminium plate. He kept the mercury and asked me to clean the plate thoroughly. I cleaned it with tamarind pulp and coconut fibre along with water and when the plate got dried up, a greyish powder was forming in the plate and we all got surprised. The unseen globules of mercury in the aluminum plate had reacted with tamarind producing the greyish powder and it formed like white ant hills. It is surprising that GM did not conduct experiment to find if it was true to contradict. If he knew a little science and did the experiment, he could have added that my experiments are also false. My father did not have any university degrees, but he was a man of genius with many inventions to his credit.

My Response: Premanand just admitted he handled toxic mercury by collecting it and pouring it into a bottle! Undeniably, there were still traces of mercury on the broken thermometer and on the aluminum plate. Premanand directly exposed himself to the residual mercury when he cleaned the aluminum plate (which held the broken thermometer). Premanand even admitted that there was residual mercury on the plate because he claimed the tamarind reacted with the mercury.

Amusingly enough, Premanand said "It is surprising that GM did not conduct experiment to find if it was true to contradict. If he knew a little science and did the experiment, he could have added that my experiments are also false." Unlike Premanand, I have enough scientific knowledge to know better than to expose myself to a known poison that can be absorbed through direct contact and through inhalation. Click Here to see the protocol for cleaning up mercury spills (under 2 tablespoons).

At: http://www.indian-skeptic.org/html/svm2.htm Premanand said, "When you go to buy Sai Baba's pictures from the samiti, they first make a pretense of wiping the frame. Actually they are anointing it with mercuric chloride solution. When the aluminum frame dabbed with this comes into contact with moisture a gray powder mistaken for holy ash falls out." This comment only serves to fuel valid doubts regarding Premanand's scientific knowledge regarding mercury. Mercuric Chloride is a higly toxic poison that is life-endangering and can cause numerous phsyical symptoms resulting in death (Ref. 3). However, Premanand speaks nonchalantly about mercuric chloride, claiming that the Sai Samithi is dabbing such a poison on aluminum frames just to make it appear as if vibuthi is manifesting. Touching mercuric chloride can result in burns, allergic reactions and is absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream. Even in the case of aluminum oxide, it is a known irritant (Ref. 4), a neurotoxicant (Ref. 5) and ranks in the 50% - 75% level for a hazard ranking (Ref. 6). I am not aware of any incidents of allergic reactions, irritation or toxicity due to the ingestion or application of vibuthi. Consequently, Premanand's speculations fail, on all counts, to explain vibuthi manifestations (most of which forms on glass, not on the frames).

GM : Basava Premanand is highly critical about the profit making at SSB's ashram and has pointed out profit margins in degrading terms.

GM has not mentioned from where he collected this information. I did not find this in any of the references he has quoted. If he would clarify from where he got this information, I could explain. In many articles I have discussed the profit making by SSB even on selling the vibhuti which he claims he creates.

My Response: At home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/articles/whomurdered.html Premanand said, "We have published the scanned copy of the delivery order for dispatch of 9 tons of Vibhuthi (Holy ash) from Palani to Puttaparthi. Nine tons cost Rs. 58,000/- Sai Baba sells 100 grams of vibhuthi packed for Rs. 5/-. Outside in Puttaparthi it is sold for Rs. 10/- thus making a profit of Rs. 3.5 lakhs to Rs. 8 lakhs on a lorry load." The vibuthi sold outside the ashram is in no manner connected with the vibuthi sold inside the ashram. Premanand did not say if the vibuthi order was being sent specifically to the ashram, or if it was being sent to vendors outside the ashram (both are in the village of Puttaparthi). Premanand derived speculative numbers based, in part, on the selling price outside the ashram (which does not reflect on the ashram, as they do not deal with outside vendors). The vibuthi that is sold in the ashram, is delievered in large plastic bags. The vibuthi is then individually packaged in high quality, white paper that is covered with yellow plastic (that has been monogramed) and wrapped in red thread. I have seen the packaging process for myself (which is usually done at the vibuthi booth, in public). Premanand's estimates do not include the packaging material, storage facility, transportation costs and other related costs in supplying vibuthi to devotees. Undoubtedly, there will be some profit. But Premanand is trying to exaggerate the numbers, without taking into consideration other basic, common-sense expenses.

GM : However, Basava Premanand has apparently succumbed to the same temptation in regards to selling his book, "Murders in Sai Baba's Bed Room", which sells for 400 rupees (approximately $9 US Dollars) in India, but sells to foreigners for $40 US Dollars! Shipping is free (about $3 US dollars). So, Basava Premanand is making a little over a 300% profit from foreigners! Tsk! Tsk! His book was published in 2001, 8 years after the murders happened (just for your information).

Here again before GM speculated, he has not asked for my clarifications. First the prepublication price of the book was fixed at Rs.150/- and US $ 15/-. The people sent the amount as advance as I did not have enough funds to print it. I could print only about 500 copies and 90% copies were purchased by the life members and pre publication depositors. Life members get my books at 50% discount. The sale of these books were a loss to me, as I had to pay a lot for printing the photos on imported thick art paper and get these printed from quality printers. The book is posted by airmail and the expenses come to about US $ 6.

Without proper investigations and records I do not publish anything. Moreover lots of money has to be spent. So it took a great deal of time, as I am a middle-class person living on the sale of books. I do not also beg for donations like GM's god-incarnate, nor do I collect any donations. So it takes much and valuable time. GM has falsely accused me of being a profiteer. Why? What is his real motivation? What agenda does he have that he is so careless about a person's good reputation?

My Response: Actually, I made a mistake in my calculations. I said that Premanand was "making a little over a 300% profit". Actually, "300%" should have read "400%". 150 Rupees is approximately $4 US Dollars. For foreigners, the price was $15 US Dollars. That is a 375% price increase for foreigners. Because the book didn't sell well (I wonder why), Premanand increased the price to 400 rupees (approximately $9 US dollar). For foreigners, the price was increased to $40 US Dollars (including the shipping cost of $6). $40 - $6 = $34. This means that Premanand was trying to make a 378% profit off of foreigners. *tsk* *tsk*

When it comes to why Premanand is charging so much money to foreigners, he makes all kinds of excuses to justify his profiteering. However, Premanand sees no problem pointing out the profiteering of SSB, without even taking into consideration other relevant expenses. This proves that Premanand is a profiteer, or tried to be one. I am sure he didn't make a profit from his book. However his price gauging is evident. Why doesn't Premanand tell us how many copies he sold to his book? Why doesn't he provide the general public with copies to his expenditures? After all, what does Premanand have to hide?

GM : Basava Premanand's conspiracy theory is a true conspiracy theory; full of unsubstantiated accusations, blatant assumptions and Sai-Fi speculations that does not befit a true scientist or rationalist. As a matter of fact, even Robert Priddy, who is very critical of SSB, does not even come close to making any of the allegations made by Basava Premanand.

For GM's information, I have not authored any conspiracy theories and I would request him to point any such in my book "Murders in Sai Baba's Bed Room" or articles in Indian Skeptic. He has not proved false any of my questions on page 363 and 397 in Vol II of the book. Nor has he touched any of the facts the photographs reveal about the murders to prove that they are false, though he refers to the photos in his speculations. Forget about the summing up. My writ was for the High Court only to order for a CBI investigation and the data collected by me were based on the court and government records which I could procure and the newspaper clippings.

My Response: It is my opinion that Premanand's views, regarding the 1993 police shootings, is a conpiracy theory. I will give valid reasons why I believe this, as this article progresses. Since Premanand's book, Murders In Sai Baba's Bedroom, is now out of print (according to Robert Priddy), it would very difficult for anyone to obtain a copy. Now why would I pay $40 US Dollars for a paperback book (whose cost is comparable to purchasing a hardback, unabridged, Collegiate Dictionary with a compact disk included) when much of what is written in Premanand's book (regarding the 1993 police shootings) has already been published on the internet?

At home.hetnet.nl/~ex_baba/engels/murders/murders.html photographs are provided of the four assailants, after they were shot by police, and other miscellaneous photographs are shown. On this page, one can see that Premanand cited no forensic experts or sources. Premanand, himself, speculated (and formed conclusions) based on what he thought happened. Unlike Premanand, I cannot (and will not) draw conclusions about these pictures because I am not (and do not pretend to be) a forensic expert.

One can read Premanand's assumptions about these photographs, even though he was never personally present. I could comment about many of Premanand's errors regarding the pictures in question, but I simply do not have the time to post many pages about his numerous speculations. The fact remains that Premanand never cited any forensic experts and drew conclusions based on conjecture and inexperienced and untrained observations.

To give several examples, if one goes to the link just provided and scroll down to "Pic. 1", one will read the following, "is the massive building where the 3 domes are covered with gold - the residence of Satya Sai Baba with a plinth area of 35' x 90' with a first floor of the same dimension:". The picture provided is an old picture of the mandir. The three domes on top are not (and never were) "covered with gold". Premanand is wrong.

On "Pic. 2", Premanand said, "is the photograph of the Baba distributing letters to his devotees, after a sumptuous lunch to the devotees and the residents of Puttaparthi" The "sumptuous lunch" was fried rice with a laddu as a sweet, served on flaky, dried leaf plates (whose leafs were held together with tiny sticks). Oh, that sounds "sumptuous" to me.

On "Pic. 4", one will read the following, "is the interview room where the four Sai Baba aides are alleged to have been stabbed by the four alleged assailants out of which two died. The blue door leads to the stair case leading to the first floor. Strangely the wooden throne used by Sai Baba while giving interviews is missing in the room. There is a pool of blood in the center of the room on the left side which is alleged to have gushed out of the stab injuries of the four aides. There is a stick in the middle of the blood pool and a metal rod at the end of the blood pool facing the blue door. How these happened to be in the room is not investigated." Of course, what Premanand failed to mention is that (in the picture provided) only the left-hand side of the room was photographed. Anyone who has ever had an interview, knows that SSB's chair is located on the far right-hand side of the interview room. That is why the chair was not visible in the photograph. Only the left hand side of the interview room was shown! Furthermore, there is no way to determine that the small, brown, stick-like object in the picture was a "metal rod". That is Premanand's speculation. The picture shows the place where SSB's four aides were stabbed (2 were murdered and 2 others were seriously wounded, but survived). Since the doors were broken open, it is entirely possible that the "metal rod" is actually a piece of splintered wood. Once again, no one knows for certain.

On "Pic. 7", one will read the following, "is the interview room of Sai Baba next to his bedroom where Sai Baba meets the members of his trust and other functionaries. There are two wooden poles, one stained with blood, a pillow with blood stain, a wall clock, a table lamp and other articles on the sofa. But no blood on the sofa. The very fact that these materials are on the sofa set proves someone had placed them on the sofa. This proves that there were others in Sai Baba residence". If anyone views the picture in question, one will not see any blood on the poles or on the pillow. An important fact, that Premanand overlooks, is that he has no idea when these pictures were taken (how long after the events transpired). He is, once again, speculating. I have found similar problems in every single one of Premanand's descriptions. Anyone with any sort of reasoning faculty will see how Premanand is pretending to be a forensic expert and jumping to conclusions without knowing other relevant information that could alter his perceptions considerably.

Premanand also said, on the link provided earlier, "The police failed in their duty to verify the finger prints on the alarm switch, the knives, the bottle containing potassium cyanide, ether, the bombs, the poles etc., which if they had verified would have been enough proof to arrest the real murderers.".

However, Premanand said, at home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/articles/whomurdered.html, "The fact that the 4 alleged assailants did not have any weapons like knives and daggers is proved by the fact that their finger prints were not found on them and to make people believe that they had worn gloves, they had strewn the gloves around the dead bodies of the 4 alleged assailants which did not even have a speck of blood on the gloves." Now which is it? Were the knives inspected for fingerprints or not? Premanand cannot make up his mind. This proves my point that Premanand is not only making blind assumptions (and doing so poorly, I might add), but he is shamelessly spreading them as the truth. The previous two links show that Premanand is essentially making guesses based on his own perceptions and ideas. That is why I said that Premanand's viewpoints are a "conspiracy theory". They are not based on what actually happened (no one knows for certain), but what he thinks "might" have happened.

GM : In classic, unscientific form, Basava Premanand submits, of all things, newspaper clippings as "evidence" to support his claims against SSB. Despite the fact that many of the newspaper articles contradict each other and fully indulged in a variety of conspiracy theories, referring to numerous, unnamed "eye witnesses" and anonymous "reliable sources" for their accounts. Basava Premanand is under the impression that these newspaper clippings are factual because they were published in a newspaper and consequently used as factual evidence against SSB! A standard never used, or applied, in any civilized court of law! Ever!

The newspaper items were submitted not as a proof but just to show how agitated the people were because of the destruction of the evidence by the police and the silence by SSB and the followers who were present at the time of the murders. Every newspaper in India published about the murders, although the SSB official magazine Sanathana Sarathi was remarkably silent. I am afraid that GM does not know anything about Indian Courts. He could have approached Justice Bhagavathi or Justice Ranganath Mishra. There are several instances where the High Courts and Supreme Court took suo moto action against the alleged accused based on news paper reports. One such instance, which happened when the Andhra High Court was hearing the case of 6 murders in Sai Baba's Bedroom, has been published on pages 25 to 28 in Vol I of the book. GM's speculations prove that he has called Indian courts uncivilised.

My Response: At: http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/articles/whomurdered.html, is the reference for my following comments. Premanand just said "The newspaper items were submitted not as a proof but just to show how agitated the people were because of the destruction of the evidence by the police and the silence by SSB and the followers who were present at the time of the murders." On the link provided, Premanand cited newspapers for quite a different reason (admittedly):

"1. The Time of the Assault

b. Occurrences of offence Day: Sunday, Date 6-6-93, Time 10:30 PM (Vol. 1, FIR Page 336) The Hindu (Vol. 2, Page 12), The Independent (Vol. 2, Page 17), Indian Express (Vol. 2, Page 25), The Statesman (Vol. 2, Page 31), Times of India (Vol. 2, Page 36) of 8.6.1993 have stated that the 4 assailants tried to crash into the residence of Satya Sai Baba at 10:30 PM - 10:45 PM on 6-6-1993.

Deccan Herald of 8-6-93 (Vol. 2, Page 9), published the interview with Gangadhara Reddy, Circle Inspector, Puttaparthi, who said that the assailants had tried to barge into the room where Sai Baba was resting in the Prasanthi Mandir to hand over a telegram at around 9:30 PM.

Mathrubhumi (Vol. 1, Page 70) investigated about the telegram and found that a telegram from Chandraswamy addressed to Satya Sai Baba was handed over to Suresh Santharam Prabhu at about 10:05 PM on 6-6-1993 at his home and his signature got.

This proves that Sai Baba had authorised Suresh Santharam Prabhu to receive telegrams, registered letters etc., and till that night he was in the good books of Sai Baba.

If the telegram was received at l0:05 PM by Suresh Santharam Prabhu at his home on 6-6-1993 the statement of (Gangadjara Reddy that the assailants had tried to barge into the room where Sai Baba was resting in the Prasanthi Mandir allegedly to hand over a telegram at around 9:30 PM is false and the time of 10:30 mentioned by the newspapers is correct as it would take time for the 4 alleged assailants to reach Sai Baba's residence after receiving the telegram at 10:05.

4. Did the police arrive at Prasanthinilayam before Commencement of the crime?

If the police had come after 10:30 the statement of Gangadhara Reddy to a question by Times of India, dated 9-6-1993 (Vol. 2, Page 74) and Deccan Chronicle, dated 10-6-1993 (Vol. 2, Page 81) that "when we saw the stabbed bodies of the Baba's personal aides lying in a pool of blood, two of them writhing in agony with blood gushing out, and upon realising that the attackers had gained access to the first floor; what else we could have done?" should be false."

At: http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/articles/writpetition.html, when Premanand's writ petition was dismissed, he submitted 186 pages of Newspaper clippings as an annexure. Why would he submit 186 pages as an annexure if Premanand didn't think it was "proof" (my word)? Consequently, it is clear that Premanand relied on newspaper clippings to make his case against SSB and did not supply them, "just to show how agitated the people were because of the destruction of the evidence by the police and the silence by SSB".

Funny that Premanand would ask me to contact former Justice Bhagwati and Justice Ranganath Mishra. Barry Pittard had the following to say about them, " I may mention in passing that P.N. Bhagawati, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, a key figure on the Sathya Sai Central Trust (India) is also on the Board of Directors of The Times of India. In a joint public letter, it is he along with the Prime Minister of India, A.B. Vajpayee, and another former Chief Justice of India, Ranganath Mishra, who has said that our contentions represent 'wild, reckless and concocted allegations made by certain vested interests and people against Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.'" Since Premanand feels that these two justices are "civil", then I think Premanand is attributing civility to their comments regarding Anti-Sai Activists! Putting this amusing fact aside, I am not aware of the case that Premanand cited. Consequently, I cannot comment on it. I am not aware of any court that has accepted a newspaper clipping (in and of itself) as proof. There has to be evidence that supports the claims made in the newspaper clipping. That is the point I made.

GM : Basava Premanand had every opportunity to call the reporters who uncovered their "evidence" as material witnesses, but chose not to do so. Why? If the evidence the reporters uncovered was so incriminating, why does Basava Premanand ignore the actual incriminating evidence and use newspaper clippings instead? This highly irrational approach in gathering "evidence" comes from India's leading "rationalist"! Believe it or not.

The press reporters are not responsible to give out their information or evidence to anyone. They can only be summoned by police on the orders of the courts. How did GM speculate that I did not meet the press reporters? From reading his speculations it is clear that he is no lawyer and that he has not consulted any lawyers with the slightest knowledge of Indian laws while preparing this article. It is plain that his motive is just to vilify me.

My Response: Premanand said, "The press reporters are not responsible to give out their information or evidence to anyone." According to Premanand, Indian newspapers are not accountable and take no responsiblity for the articles they publish. What an amazing confession! Despite this confession, Premanand uses these same unaccountable and irresponsible newspaper articles as proof and evidence against Sathya Sai Baba!

If these newspaper reporters had proof that was overlooked or ignored by the police, why didn't Premanand ask the court to get the evidence from them? Instead, Premanand supplied the court with irrelevant statements, from Tal Brooke's book Lord of the Air (whose alleged witnesses have never come forward, in over 30 years, to corroborate Tal Brooke's stories), that were not applicable to the 1993 police shootings.

It is amusing that Premanand points his finger at me, accusing me of not knowing Indian Law. Considering Premanand's failures in Indian Courts of Law (against SSB), it is exceedingly clear whom does not know Indian law!

1993 Police Shootings Rebuttal: Click Here To Go To: PAGE TWO