Jabalpur, Mar 10 (UNI) Two diaries containing telephone numbers of gold traders and influential persons in Mumbai, Indore, Jabalpur and other cities were seized after the March 8 expose of a monk who indulged in exploitation at his single-acre 'Paramhans' ashram in this district's Gomukh village, police said today.

Vikas Joshi alias Swami Vikasanand targeted minor girls, used a seven-foot-long tiger skin as a throne, had a grand bathtub and possessed objectionable photographs of young women.

Befooling simple village folk and educated urbanites alike earned him lakhs that were deposited in a bank account. Joshi also encroached on government land, according to the report.

''He was arrested on March 8 from a room in the posh Hotel Satya Ashok while showing a blue film to three adolescent girls. A few obscene CDs and more than 1.5 kg marijuana were seized,'' a police officer said.

Joshi, hailing from Dhana village in Maharashtra's Thane district, was remanded to custody. A search at the ashram also yielded obscene CDs, video cassettes, marijuana, a revolver holster, an album of minor girls' objectionable photographs, sacred ash, Rs 60,000, passbook and documents revealing ownership of two acres besides Rs 1.50 lakh in a bank locker.

'Paramhans' also had an automatic generator, fire-fighting equipment and a luxurious cellar, police said.

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