BHUBANESWAR: Bolstered by the outcome of investigation into the wealth accumulated by Sarathi Baba, the Crime Branch of Odisha Police on Monday searched the bank accounts of the self-styled godman and found deposits of about Rs 2 crore.
From the huge volume of data recovered from his laptop, the CB sleuths have located 10 accounts in various banks. The four accounts which contained Rs 2 crore have been frozen. One of them, in the name of Shrimad Sarathi, had Rs 1.26 crore.
The CB has asked for the account statements for last three years which should be available within a day. The statements will bring to the fore where the money came from and how it was spent, Additional Director General of Crime Branch B K Sharma informed, when contacted.
Majority of the accounts are with SBI, Allahabad Bank, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank. While the four accounts were in the name of the godman, adopted son Satyam and members of the Satyam Charitable Trust, the investigating agency has learnt that two others were opened and operated in the name of women followers which are being examined.
Sources said the godman had changed his name from Santosh Raula to Shrimad Sarathi through an affidavit.
That apart, the CB also has laid its hands on as many as 11 plots of land in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Kendrapara. Three such plots are located in Kendrapara district headquarters itself and are in the name of the charitable Trust. Revenue verification of the land will soon be carried out.
The CB also measured the ashram land which is located on 2.47 acre. On Monday, the agency searched the two property of Raula and son Satyam in Bhubaneswar. It has also come across one such property acquired by the godman’s nephew in Kendrapara where a team, led by IG Arun Bothra, is camping to find details of the movable and immovable assets.
Although the probe agency did not divulge details of the second day interrogation and information elicited from Raula, sources said it has found certain links of financial investments with a couple of ponzi firms.
The Crime Branch has also found out that the godman and the Trust made huge money by selling CDs and campaign materials of his religious discourses. Since he enjoyed a huge follower base, Raula used film actors in the videos and cleverly marketed them among the followers. “Each CD was sold for about Rs 20 and his followers lapped up the products. Apart from donations from his believers, he minted more money from them through the sale,” the sources said. Eventually, he turned to films under the banner of Shrimad Sarathi Productions.
The CB, meanwhile, is checking the whereabouts of sizeable amount of gold which Raula is believed to be possessing. Though he told the investigators that much of the yellow metal was stolen, he could not explain why he did not lodge complaint with the police. Sources said Raula may have disposed of the gold in the market with some arrangement with the traders, which is under investigation.
With the investigation bringing out more and more information about the financial status of the self-proclaimed godman, the CB has decided to seek five more days of remand from the court after his three-day custody is completed. It also plans to quiz some more people.
Meanwhile, another team went to Paradip where it started preliminary investigation into the FIR lodged by the medical student, who had allegedly accompanied Raula to Hyderabad. The statement of the girl and her family members were recorded by the CB on the day.