Precious items worth Rs 2 crore and Rs 76 lakh cash seized from Sadhu, action continues in ticket scam
Karnataka. Officials of the special wing CCB probing the BJP MLA ticket scam have seized valuables, gold jewelery and Rs 76 lakh cash worth Rs 2 crore in the case. Bengaluru Police Commissioner B. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Dayanand said that valuables and gold jewelery worth Rs 2 crore have been seized from Hindutva activist Chaitra Kundapura, accused in the case. At the same time, Rs 56 lakh in cash was seized from the monastery of arrested saint Abhinav Halashree. After further investigation, Rs 20 lakh was seized from a person associated with the saint.
Police have arrested eight people and issued notices to four people to appear for questioning. Sources said the saint had paid Rs 20 lakh as lease amount for the agricultural land and it has been recovered. Police have frozen the bank accounts of the accused. Investigation revealed that the accused were living a luxurious life and their lifestyle had changed recently. The CCB is also considering issuing a notice to Mysore Congress spokesperson M. Laxman, who alleged that he had received information about the Rs 185 crore BJP MLA ticket scam. He had claimed that Chaitra Kundapura had cheated 17 ticket contenders. He got tickets for 23 people and earned money.
He had said that Chaitra Kundapura has direct links with the BJP top leadership and demanded that it should be investigated. He had said, “We are taking a delegation to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in this regard and will request him to give instructions for a comprehensive investigation into the scam.” BJP has fielded 72 new faces in the recently concluded assembly elections. Was given the ticket and had to face a crushing defeat. The scam came to light when Govind Babu Pujari, an industrialist, filed a complaint against Chaitra Kundapura and others for defrauding him of Rs 5 crore by promising him a BJP ticket in the assembly elections.
According to sources, Kundapura had claimed the involvement of the top leadership of the party in the scam. In a letter to the Enforcement Directorate, Kundapura had demanded that the transactions of the complainant in his case, industrialist Govinda Babu Pujari, be investigated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Sources said he also expressed his willingness to cooperate in the investigation. Kundapura, while in custody, had also announced to the media that the involvement of big fish would come to light after Sadhu’s arrest.
