BJP ticket fraud case: CCB arrests mastermind Abhinava

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) Police ar rested third accused seer Halashree Abhinava Swamiji in the multi-crore scam case involving Hindutva activist Chaitra Kundapur.

The accused seer will be brought to Bengaluru on Tuesday night, sources told News Trail. Swamiji had absconded after Chaithra was taken into custody by the police.

Following a search operation which lasted almost eight days, the CCB police arrested him from Cuttack in Odisha state. The sources also said that the seer, even while on the run, was trying to obtain interim bail from the court.

Now the accused has been nabbed just as questions were being raised on the handling of the BJP MLA ticket scam by the special wing of CCB.

Chaithra, along with other six co-accused, has been alleged to have staged a drama to dupe the complainant, Govind Babu Poojary, of Rs 5 crore by promising to provide him a BJP ticket in the last state assembly elections.

How the seer was nabbed

Sources told News Trail that Abhinav Swamiji was wearing a t-shirt and travelling as a normal man in the train by shunning the saffron dress.

He had disappeared following the arrest of Kundapura on September 12. The complaint was filed by the victim on September 8. He was attending a meeting when Kundapura was arrested in Udupi and he left the programme and went into hiding.

He was planning to reach Kashi, sources added. According to the police, he had gone to Hyderabad, Farooqabad, Puri and Konark. His arrest has raised curiosity in the case as he is expected to talk about his connections with BJP and RSS bigwigs.

The investigations have shown that the accused seer had made the purchase of agricultural land and also invested in a petrol bunk.

Valuables over Rs 3 crore recovered:

Following recent raids, the CCB has recovered properties and valuables of over 2.5 crore from the possession of the accused.

The police had recovered cash of Rs 40 lakh and fixed deposits of 1.1 crore, an SUV and gold ornaments worth over Rs 23 lakh allegedly belonging to Chaitra.

Slow progress in probe

Earlier, Chaitra had made statements before the media while in custody that if the swamiji is arrested, the involvement of big personalities in the scam will emerge. However, during the second day in custody, she collapsed inside the CCB office just before the questioning was about to begin.

On Tuesday when she was discharged, the medical reports and tests confirmed that Chaitra does not have any symptoms of epilepsy. The doctors have termed the froth which oozed out following her collapse 'fake'.

It is alleged that Chaitra, after managing to obtain a bar of soap, had enacted a drama. The questions are also raised on Kundapura being treated at the hospital for almost four days, when all medical reports suggested normal status.

The police have taken custody of one of the accused Channa Naik only after he came before the media.

It may be recalled, Chaitra was arrested following charges of cheating an industrialist, BJP leader Govind Babu Poojary of Rs 5 crore promising him MLA icket to contest in Assembly elections.