Kathmandu, Jan 9 (PTI) Nepal police on Tuesday arrested "Buddha boy", a self-styled spiritual leader who was wanted by authorities on various charges.

A team of the Central Investigation Bureau arrested Ram Bahadur Bomjan from the Budhanilkantha Municipality, approximately 10 km north of Kathmandu, Nepal Police said.

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Police have been hunting for Bomjan for the past few years on different charges, including sexual exploitation of his disciples.

In July 2020, a case of sexual exploitation was filed against Bomjan in the District Court in Sarlahi in the Madhesh province.

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The chargesheet accuses him of raping a 15-year-old girl who was staying in his ashram in Sarlahi as a nun.

He was charged with raping the teenager at his private quarters in 2016 and was further charged with threatening her with consequences if she relayed the incident to others.

Bomjam was also wanted by the authorities for the disappearances of some of his disciples.

In June 2020, a team from the Central Investigation Bureau raided his ashram in the Pairey village of Sindhuli but failed to find him.

Bomjan rose to fame in 2005 at the age of 15 for allegedly meditating for months without food, water or sleep.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)