Russian special forces have arrested a former traffic officer Sergei Torop aka Vissarion who leads a sect in Siberia claiming he is Jesus Christ.
Vissarion, 59, and his closest aide Vadim Redkin, a former rock musician, were detained in the early morning raid.
Vissarion says he was reborn in 1990 as the literal reincarnation of the son of God.
The Russian National Guard, a force under the command of President Vladimir Putin, appeared to be involved in the operation.
According to a statement, Vissarion, Redkin and Vladimir Vedernikov were arrested on Tuesday, September 22.
They are also being investigated on suspicion of “causing grievous bodily harm to two or more persons.”
The self-acclaimed Jesus Christ heads what is known as the Church of the Last Testament, and he has written a ten volume ‘sequel to the Bible’.
He boasts he has 5,000 followers, some of whom live in wooden huts in the rural locality of Petropavlovka while he lives in a comfortable chalet.
Vissarion also has followers in Germany and several other European countries.
His followers are banned from smoking and alcohol.
According to DailyMail, Vissarion told the BBC three years ago: “We have a school of noble maidens here. We’re preparing girls to become future wives, future brides for worthy men.
“She has to understand not to rise above the man, not to be proud of her independence but to be shy, inconspicuous and weak.”
Despite official records showing his biological mother was called Nadyezhda, the self-anointed messiah claims Mary, mother of Jesus, is his own mother.
Vissarion abolished Christmas, replacing it with the anniversary of the date of his own first sermon, August 18.
The cult leader and the two others could be jailed for 12 years if convicted.
