After a week of hot pursuit, Central Crime Branch (CCB) officials on Tuesday arrested Abhinava Halashree Swami, who was on the run after the arrest of six of his associates in the MLA ticket cheating case.
The accused had escaped soon after CCB officials arrested Hindutva activist Chaitra Kundapura and five of her associates on the charge of cheating Govindababu Pujary, a businessman, of ₹5 crore after promising him a ticket from the BJP to contest Assembly elections.
Escape route
Halashree Swami had run away to Mysuru, from where he had reached Bhubaneswar before boarding a train to Varanasi. The special team tracking him down finally intercepted him on a train near Cuttack in Odisha on Tuesday. The accused had abandoned his saffron robes and was wearing a pullover and T-shirt. He had also purchased a new mobile phone and a SIM card, a police officer said.
Meanwhile, the main accused, Chaitra, who allegedly developed seizures in the custody of the CCB and was admitted to Victoria Hospital for treatment, was taken into custody again for questioning. She had told the media that “big names” would come out after the arrest of the seer.
The seer is the seventh accused to be arrested in the case, as Chaitra and her five associates — Gagan Kadur, Ramesh, Dhanraj, Prajwal and Srikanth — have been arrested.
Another accusation
Meanwhile, another cheating case against Chiatra has been filed by a fisherman, who accused that she had taken ₹5 lakh from him promising to help him open two cloth shops. Though the cheating incident took place five years ago, the victim identified as Sudina, a fisherman and resident of Bramhavar, complained to the Kota police after her arrest.
