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Poland has confirmed that it has detained an exiled Indian rationalist who is wanted in his home country on charges of blasphemy for debunking an alleged miracle in a Catholic church. His arrest, however, relates to an Interpol red notice for separate fraud allegations in India.
The detention of Sanal Edamaruku at Warsaw’s Modlin Airport was first reported on Sunday by media in Finland, the country where he has been living since 2012 after fleeing India. He had reportedly been visiting Warsaw to attend a human rights conference.
Mieszkający na uchodźstwie Sanal Edamruku został aresztowany na lotnisku w Modlinie. Hindus przyleciał do Polski, aby wygłosić przemówienie na konferencji poświęconej prawom człowieka.https://t.co/2fpDbmmI8E
— Interia (@Int_Wydarzenia) April 8, 2025
Edamaruku, founder of the Rationalist International, became known in his homeland for travelling around villages in an effort to prove that alleged miracles proclaimed by various holy men were actually scams.
In 2012, he was charged with blasphemy following complaints from Catholic organisations after he showed that an alleged miracle of water dripping from a crucifix in a Mumbai church was actually the result of a leak from a nearby sewage pipe.
Edamaruku has since 2020 been subject to an Interpol red notice, which seeks his detention and extradition back to India.
However, that warrant relates not to the blasphemy charge but to separate accusations – made by an Indian government employee, according to the Times of India – that Edamaruku cheated a woman out of money by making false promises that he could provide a Finnish visa.
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On Sunday evening, Finland’s foreign ministry informed the Finnish News Agency (STT) that it was aware of Edamaruku’s detention in Poland. On Monday, Poland’s border guard confirmed to Polish news website Niezależna that it had detained an Indian national on 28 March.
“During a border check, border guard officers determined that an Indian citizen was wanted by the Indian justice system with an Interpol red notice for arrest and transfer or extradition in connection with frauds committed [by him],” said the border guard, without confirming the name of the person in question.
After being processed by the district prosecutor’s office in Warsaw, the suspect was then placed by court order at a detention centre in the city.
On Tuesday, Humanists UK issued a statement “expressing deep alarm” at news of Edamaruku’s detention and calling for his release. It noted that rationalists regularly face death threats and violence in India, with three of them assassinated between 2013 and 2015.
Today, for the first time in 45 years, an Indian prime minister visited Poland.
Polish PM @donaldtusk and @NarendraModi discussed mutual cooperation in defence and agriculture, and reiterated their commitment to peace in Ukrainehttps://t.co/4oAhzVnRLS
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) August 22, 2024
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Robert Brotherus/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 3.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
