UDAY MAHURKAR.

▮ Identity sealed · POCSO §23

Journalist, India Today

New Delhi, Delhi

“Uday Mahurkar is a veteran journalist, author, and former Information Commissioner of India who published major exposés on Asaram Bapu's financial empire. Mahurkar's cover stories for *India Today* detailed the systematic land grabbing, tax evasion, and political connections of the ashram trust.”

Uday Mahurkar is a senior Indian journalist, author, and political analyst who served as an Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission (CIC) of India from 2020 to 2023. Prior to his public appointment, Mahurkar spent over thirty years as a senior editor for *India Today*, specializing in Gujarat politics, security, and investigative reporting. He was one of the leading journalists covering the growth of Asaram Bapu's organization, publishing several prominent exposés.

In August 2015, Mahurkar authored a landmark cover story for *India Today* titled 'Asaram's Empire of Deceit'. The article, based on seized documents and tax files, provided the first detailed look into the cult's massive financial network, revealing that the trust managed over Rs 10,000 crore in assets, including illegal money lending schemes and encroached land. Mahurkar also reported on Asaram's close relationships with political leaders across parties, showing how these connections were used to block investigations and secure land grants.

Mahurkar's reporting also focused on the cult's internal teachings, revealing that Asaram instructed his followers to target and silence critics, using the phrase 'cut off their tongues' to justify violence against dissenters. His reports on the suspicious deaths of children at the Motera and Chhindwara gurukuls in 2008 helped keep public pressure on the government to investigate the ashram's administrative negligence. His investigative work was widely praised for its depth and detail.

Mahurkar has written several books on Indian history and governance and remains a prominent commentator on national affairs. His reporting on Asaram Bapu is considered a definitive journalistic record of the financial and political power that sustained the godman's empire before his arrest. His work continues to be referenced in legal and academic studies of religious corruption in India.