Who is Nirmal Baba?

Self-proclaimed godman Nirmal Baba, who is under scanner for his immense wealth, had fled his rented home in Baharagora even without paying rent in 1999.

Baharagora is a small town in East Singhbhum, Jharkhand.

Investigations by The Sunday Indian have unfolded the missing link as to where Nirmal Baba disappeared after leaving Jharkhand and from where he began his success story.

According to our investigations, Nirmal Baba, who was into Kyanite mining business in Jharkhand, came to Delhi in 1999 to try his luck as a godman. It is believed that he got self realization and attained some ‘godly powers’ at Baharagora. After coming to Delhi, he started living in Daya Nand colony near Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi.

According to his neighbours, Nirmal Baba hardly interacted with anyone in the area and in those days very few people used to visit his house. Gradually, people in cars started visiting him and their number started swelling.

Nirmal Baba then bought a Toyota Innova car and deployed two gunmen for his security. Later he hired the services of three bouncers to handle any unwanted person.

While talking to TSI, Ikram, a scrap merchant, whose shop was right in front of Nirmal Baba’s flat said, “I am doing my business here for the last eight years. I even used to go to his house to collect scrap but never saw anything wrong there.”

According to Ikram, about four years ago, maybe because of the parking problem Nirmal Baba left the place. Further inquiries reveal that Nirmal Baba was shifted to Greater Kailash Part II and made his office in Nehru Place.

According to the sources in the police, Nirmal Baba invested the donations collected in his samagam and daswant into buying a hotel worth Rs 30 crore in Greater Kailash area of New Delhi.

Nirmal Baba’s wealth: Nirmal Baba has a huge following and as per him his annual ‘turnover’ is to the tune of rupee 145 crores.

Nirmal Baba charges Rs 2,000 from every participant who wishes to be a part of his commune, 'samagam'. This amount is transferred directly into the three bank accounts of Nirmal Baba — one each in Punjab National Bank, ICICI Bank and Yes Bank. As per estimates Nirmal Darbar has an annual turnover of approximately 84 crore rupees.

Rs 109 crores in two bank accounts
A Hindi daily, Prabhat Khabar, claims to have details of two of these accounts. As per the newspaper, Rs 109 crore has been deposited in these two accounts this year (until first week of April 2012). Roughly, everyday Rs 1.11 crores is deposited into these accounts. Although a large part of the deposit comes from Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand, but transactions take place from all over the country.

The newsdaily claims that Rs 16 crore was deposited into Nirmal Baba's account on April 12, 2012.

A fix deposit of Rs 25 crores
The newspaper also claims that a fixed deposit of Rs 25 crores is held by Nirmal Baba in a leading bank. Drafts have been prepared in the name of Neelam Kapoor and some other companies. Nirmal Baba holds two accounts — one in the name of Nirmaljeet Singh Narula (Nirmal Baba's real name), and the other in the name of 'Nirmal Darbar'. Those seeking participation deposit the 'samagam' entry fees into the account run under the name of 'Nirmal Darbar', and the Baba then transfer the amount into his own account.

The paper further claimed that Nirmal Baba transferred Rs 53 crores from one of these accounts into a private bank.

The real name of Nirmal Baba is Nirmaljeet Singh Narula and he was born at Ludhiana, Punjab. After the death of his father in his childhood, his mother sent him to Jharkhand in 1970’s. He got married to Sushma Narula. He has a daughter and a son.

In 1980-81 at Modininagar, Jharkhand he started a brick making unit and started supplying bricks under brand name Nirmal.

But the business flopped, and then he started cloth business which also failed to click.

Later, he started mining business in Baharagoda area that again proved unsuccessful. In 1999, he disappeared and resurfaced in Delhi to try his luck in this new profession