81.   Before long, though, many in this largely Roman Catholic community were embracing him as a holy man.

82.   Bands of holy men from warrior sects marched naked, with their long hair and beards, toward the river holding hands or wielding spears and poles.

83.   Behind, wearing feather bonnets and bright Indian jackets and blankets, walked relatives and a shaman, or holy man.

84.   Bhawani Bheek Pathak, the investigating police officer, said the holy men refused to speak after their arrest.

85.   But Hindu holy men have been known to commit ritual suicide.

86.   Chandraswami, a Hindu holy man at the center of another fraud case against Rao, is also a defendant in the forgery case.

87.   Chandraswami, like many Hindu holy men, wears beads around his neck, long hair, a vermilion dot on his forehead and dresses in robes and sandals.

88.   Devotees also cluster around naked holy men, who have renounced all worldly possessions, including clothing.

89.   During the fasting month of Ramadhan, only a single village representative or a traditional holy man actually fasts.

90.   Earlier this month, businessman Lakhubhai Pathak testified that he paid the holy man, known as Chandraswami, to arrange a government contract.