BENGALURU/UDUPI: Sleuths of Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) arrested right wing activist Chaitra Kundapur and five others in Udupi on Tuesday night on charges of cheating a businessman of Rs 5 crore by promising to get him a BJP ticket to contest the recently held Assembly elections from Byndoor constituency. The accused allegedly faked characters to pass off as RSS/BJP leaders to cheat the businessman.
The six accused were brought to Bengaluru and produced before the First Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, which remanded them in police custody till September 23.
The arrests were made following a complaint filed by Govind Babu Poojary, a 44-year-old Byndoor-based entrepreneur, at Bandepalya police station in Bengaluru on September 8.
Poojary, a resident of Haralur Road, alleged that he was involved in social service activities and aspired to contest the Assembly elections from his hometown Byndoor. He met Chaitra through a BJP worker, Prasad Byndoor, in 2022.
Chaitra allegedly claimed that she had high-level contacts in BJP, RSS and in the Prime Minister’s Office, besides she knew some Supreme Court judges and told him she would not only get him a BJP ticket but would also ensure his victory from Byndoor. Through Chaitra, Poojary met the general secretary of BJP Yuva Morcha, Gagan Kadur, in Chikkamagaluru. Kadur introduced one Vishwanathji to Poojary as a senior RSS pracharak.
Chaitra blackmailed bizman
“Vishwanathji claimed he was the coordinator between BJP and RSS and his word was final in choosing candidates and asked me to pay Rs 50 lakh to set the process in motion, and that I have to pay Rs 3 crore more as soon as the process begins. Accordingly, I paid Rs 50 lakh to Gagan through Prasad on July 2, 2022. After that Vishwanathji, Gagan and Chaitra made a conference call to me and told me my name was on the candidates’ list and that BJP leaders had agreed to give me a ticket,” Poojary alleged in his complaint.
On October 29, Poojary paid Rs 3 crore to Gagan and Chaitra’s team in Mangaluru. Later, on Vishwanathji and Chaitra’s instruction that he had to meet Abhinava Halashree Swamy as his recommendation was also important to get the ticket, the complainant met him too. He alleged that the seer, who allegedly claimed he was close to the PM, personally received Rs 1.50 crore at his residence in Vijayanagar on January 16.
However, Chaitra and Gagan, on March 8, called Poojary and informed him that Vishwanathji passed away due to health problems. That is when Poojary suspected something amiss and started probing. He learnt there was no RSS pracharak named Vishwanathji and called Chaitra and Gagan to his office. The duo allegedly claimed that Rs 3.5 crore they had received was with Vishwanathji, who passed away. When Poojary threatened to file a police complaint, they blackmailed him by threatening to commit suicide if he did. They sought time to return the money, but went incommunicado.
Police sources said after Poojary filed a complaint on September 8, Chaitra was picked up from the parking zone of Sri Krishna Mutt in Udupi on Tuesday night. The video of CCB cops detaining Chaitra despite her mild resistance emerged on social media platforms. She was taken to the state home for women at Nittur on Tuesday night before being brought to Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Chaitra Kundapur is known for her pro-Hindu and pro-BJP speeches in the coastal region.Gagan Kadur, Prasad Byndoor, Srikanth, Prajwal and Dhanraj were arrested from different places. Abhinava Halashree Swamy, the seer of Samsthana Mutt of Hirehadagali in Hospet, and Naik and Ramesh are said to be absconding.
Poojary stated that when he gathered information about the accused, he learnt that Ramesh had posed as RSS pracharak Vishwanathji and he was paid Rs 1.20 lakh by Gagan and Chaitra. He was taken to a salon at Kadur where make-up was done to make him look like a leader of RSS before meeting Poojary. Also, he met one Naik, who claimed to be a BJP central election committee member at Kumarakrupa. But he turned out to be a roadside chicken kabab vendor at KR Puram and was paid Rs 93,000.
Arresteed near Mutt
After Poojary filed a complaint on September 8, Chaitra was picked up from the parking zone of Sri Krishna Mutt in Udupi.