Bengaluru Central Crime Branch police on Wednesday, November 8, filed an 800-page chargesheet against Hindutva activist Chaitra Kundapura and seven associates, including the head pontiff of an ashram in central Karnataka. They are accused of cheating a businessman of Rs 5 crore by promising him a BJP ticket to contest the Karnataka Assembly polls that were held in May.
A Central Crime Branch officer said that the charge sheet was filed before the first Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, with statements from 75 witnesses.
Chaitra was arrested on September 13 for allegedly defrauding Govind Babu Pujari, a businessman, of Rs 5 crore under the pretext of securing him a BJP ticket to contest the recently concluded Karnataka Assembly elections. Chaitra, known for delivering inflammatory speeches targeting the Muslim community, sought refuge at the residence of Suraiyya Anjum, a Muslim woman and Congress leader when the FIR was filed against her.
According to the FIR, the financial transactions between Govind Babu Pujari and Chaitra Kundapura commenced in July 2022 and extended until March 2023. The complainant, Govind, grew wary when Chaitra asserted that the funds were held by an RSS leader named Vishwanath, who, as it turned out, was non-existent. When Govind Babu pressed for the return of his money, Chaitra and her associate Gagan Kadur disappeared, prompting him to seek police intervention. Gagan Kadur is the secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) in Chikkamagaluru.
The complainant had also added that he handed over Rs 1.5 crore to a seer named Abhinava Halasri, the head pontiff of the Halashri Mutt in Vijayanagara. He had been absconding and was arrested near Cuttack in Odisha, a week later. He had also obtained a gag order from a civil court against defamatory media reportage. Following Kundapura's arrest, she claimed that the involvement of prominent leaders in the fraud would be revealed upon the arrest of the Halashri seer.
Another individual implicated in the case is Ramesh, who temporarily assumed the identity of the fictitious character Vishwanath, purporting to be an RSS leader from North India. This character allegedly met his demise in Kashmir after receiving the money from Govind.
TNM and Newslaundry are ready to take you on a journey through the polls in Telangana, Mizoram, MP, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, because we're stronger together. Click here to power our ground reports.