BHUBANESWAR: After a marathon interrogation followed by search which lasted for over 12 hours at his Kendrapara ashram, self-styled godman of Odisha, Sarathi Baba was taken into custody by Crime Branch during the wee hours of Saturday.
Led by IG Arun Bothra, the Crime Branch team brought the Baba - originally Santosh Raula - to Cuttack where he would be quizzed at the investigating agency's headquarters. During the search, Rs 2 lakh in cash, gold, silver wares and important documents related to his bank accounts and property have been seized by the sleuths.
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The CB, which was assigned the probe into his immoral activities and charges of cheating and criminal intimidation, is likely to take further action basing on its interrogation of the Baba. Sources said, he may be formally arrested soon.
The detention came four days after details of the self-proclaimed godman's escapades in a Hyderabad hotel surfaced in some part of the media. Soon, protests swelled up against the Baba and demand for action against him grew.
Kendrapara's Barimul ashram of the godman turned into the centre of controversy with locals mounting a protest against the Baba while his followers batted for him.
Even as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered a Crime Branch inquiry into the godman's activities on Thursday evening, the issued snowballed into a full-fledged law and order situation in Kendrapara where police baton-charged angry locals and political party activists who were demanding the Baba's arrest on Friday.
Following heavy brick-batting and blockades, prohibitory orders were clamped in parts of Kendrapara town as people protested the excessive use of police force.
Though the Odisha Government tried to assuage the public anger by transferring the Kendrapara SP Satish Gajbhiye, there was no let-up in the situation as clamour for the godman's arrest continued to grow.
The CB which sent in a six-member team to the Baba's ashram on Friday morning carried out extensive search on its premises and grilled the godman for over 12 hours. At about 3 am on Saturday, the self-styled Sarathi Baba was bundled into an SUV and taken to Cuttack amidst heavy security.
Along with him, as many as two of his aides have also been taken into custody by the Crime Branch. The probe agency has also sought details of his stay and CCTV footages from the hotel authorities through Hyderabad Police Commissionerate.
The controversy, however, had several twists as a female medical student, who had allegedly accompanied the Baba to Hyderabad and stayed at the same hotel, was drawn into the controversy after her name surfaced and pictures did the rounds on TV channels and social media networks. She lodged an FIR against four persons at Cuttack stating that she was being blackmailed and threatened while she maintained that she was never exploited by the Baba.