P

olice seized books and DVDs from a training house, or ashram, of spiritual guru Anand Krishna in Sunter, North Jakarta, on Friday.

The confiscation was the latest development in the investigation into claims that Anand sexually molested his female disciples, something he has strenuously denied.

Earlier, police also reportedly searched his ashram in Bogor, West Java, but there are no reports of whether they confiscated anything to use in the investigation.

The books and DVDs the police collected contained the ashram's activities and lists of the guru's disciples, Purba, an ashram em-ployee, said.

"We explained to them what we do in the courses we conduct twice a week, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays," Purba was quoted as saying by news portal detik.com.

The famous guru, who also runs an ashram in the Hindu majority island of Bali, is in the spotlight after two disciples, Tara Pradipta Laksmi and Sumidah, filed complaints of sexual harassment. Police haven't questioned the plaintiffs.

Their lawyers said more victims would lodge similar complaints with the police next week.

Anand's lawyers said they were considering filing counter defamation complaints should the amicable avenue they were seeking fail.

Purba said news about the guru facing legal trouble had not affected activity in the ashrams. No regular activities have been rescheduled and there is no sign of restlessness among the disciples, he said.

"The number of participants in each session varies between 10 and 12," he said.

He said activities were managed by teachers and that Anand attended only certain events.

But Anand Ashram Foundation chairperson Maya Safira said that the ashram would cancel an outdoor spiritual activity originally scheduled for Sunday at the National Monument in Central Jakarta.

She said the "Laughing Together" ritual was canceled for security reasons on the advice of the National Police.

Maya said the foundation received the advised when Anand's lawyers met National Police detective chief Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi in Jakarta on Thursday regarding the investigation.

"The event is canceled for security reasons as the scandal is very much in the public eye."

The outdoor activity at Monas has been held regularly every two weeks over the past four years and this cancellation would not be not the first, Maya said.

It is usually canceled every time the venue is used by the government.