Newark officials hoodwinked by delegates of fictional country of Kailasa

Mayor and city council agreed to partnership with nonexistent nation invented by Indian fugitive Swami Nithyananda

The city of Newark, New Jersey, has confirmed that it was duped over five days in January when Mayor Ras Baraka invited what he believed to be a delegation from the Hindu nation of Kailasa to join into a sister city partnership.

A signing ceremony was held at which Baraka told a Kailasa delegate: “I pray that our relationship helps us to understand cultural, social and political development and improves the lives of everybody in both places.”