Swami Swaroopananda has filed a case on news channel NTV for resorting to blackmail. He claims that NTV had threatened to defame him if he didn't pay up Rs. 1 crore, and has also approached the State Human Rights Commission.
Meanwhile, Telugu news channels NTV and ABN Andhra Jyothy are slugging it out over Swami Swaroopananda's alleged misdeeds. The channels have now got down to calling each other names - NTV is accusing ABN of being a cheap channel resorting to cheap tactics, and has even announced a helpline for victims of any of ABN's actions.
It claims that some years back Andhra Jyothy (a publication of the ABN Andhra Jyothy group), had published a series of articles accusing Swami Swaroopananda of the very misdeeds it is protecting him from, but had abruptly stopped the series. NTV has spent a significant amount of airtime demanding to know why ABN suddenly turned saviour, and how many crores of rupees it earned from the deal.
In addition, NTV claims that the swami had taken undue advantage of Bhakti TV (an NTV channel), by not paying it a single rupee even after using it for his programs.
NTV claims that Swami Swaroopananda is illiterate, and that he used to sell tickets in black for a living. According to its news reports, CPI workers are protesting his illegal occupancy of lands, and are demanding that he distribute them among the poor. Some protestors have gone on to call him a rapist and a murderer.