5th accused arrested for cheating BJP ticket aspirant of Rs 5 cr

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch on Thursday nabbed the fifth accused in the multi-crore cheating case involving Hindutva activist Chaitra Kundapur in the city.

As per the sources, the accused has confessed to have posed as a member of the BJP election committee after being asked to do so by one of the four accused who have already been arrested by the city police.

The accused was identified as Chenna Naik, a resident of KR Puram and the person who had allegedly posed as Vishwanathji, a BJP member, in a staged drama to con a businessman, Govind Babu Poojary, of Rs 5 crore. According to sources, Naik was arrested near Yeshwanthpur in Bengaluru.

The FIR filed in the case lists Chaitra Kundapura as the primary accused, with a list of co-accused individuals including Gagan Kadur, Abhinava Halasri Swamiji, Ramesh, Naik, Dhanraj, Srikanth, and Prasad Byndoor.

While five have been arrested now, efforts are on to nab two accused who are still absconding, sources added. The accused have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 406 (criminal breach of trust), Section 419 (cheating by personation), Section 420 (cheating), Section 170 (personating a public servant), Section 506 (criminal intimidation), and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy).

On Thursday morning, as Chaitra was being escorted by the women police staff to the CCB office, she accused the complainants of conspiring against her to get his pending Indira Canteen bills passed.

"Let the Swamiji get arrested, the truth will come out and several bigwigs will be exposed," Chaitra was heard saying to the reports as she was being taken away inside the CCB office in Bengaluru.

She has been remanded to 10-day police custody. It is alleged that she was speaking about Abhinav Halasri of Halu Mutt in Hirehadagali, who is currently on the run.

Sources from Hirehadagali said that the seer did not visit the Mutt on Wednesday and switched off his phone after police arrested Chaitra and three of her associates.

It is now being said that Abhinav Halasri received Rs 1.5 crore from the complainant and had invested in a petrol bunk and bought irrigational lands in the past few months.

It is alleged that all seven accused were part of a drama staged to dupe Govind Babu Poojary, who runs a catering business, by promising a BJP ticket in the 2023 state assembly elections.