BJP ticket scam: Arrested Hindutva activist collapses during interrogation
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Bengaluru: Hindu activist Chaitra Kundapura, who was arrested in connection with a BJP ticket scam in Karnataka, collapsed during the interrogation on Friday at the City Central Crime Branch (CCB) office.
The accused was immediately shifted to the Victoria Hospital and is now being treated at the ICU.
Chaitra was arrested on Tuesday for cheating Govinda Babu Poojari, an industrialist, of Rs 5 crore after promising him a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket to contest the Assembly elections.
According to sources, Chaitra was brought to the CCB office in the morning from the woman’s rehabilitation centre. The junior officers were questioning her and ACP Reena Suvarna was to question her shortly when the incident happened.
This was the third day of her interrogation.
Chaitra also started oozing out froth after the collapse. Family members of the accused have stated that Chaitra suffered from epilepsy. However, sources also stated that Chaitra attempted to commit suicide at the CCB office.
The official statement is yet to be made from the CCB Special Wing.
Meanwhile, another accused in the case, Abhinava Halasri, filed a petition before the court on Thursday. Halasri has been absconding since the arrest of Kundapura and the police have launched a hunt for him.
The petition is filed before the 57 CCH court in Bengaluru and the court will take up the petition on Saturday. Sources said that Halasri had links with many prominent leaders of the BJP and RSS.
The case has taken a sensational twist following Chaitra Kundapura’s statement that big personalities are involved in the scandal.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated that there is no connection between the BJP and the arrest of Kundapura.
“There is no connection with the Chaitra Kundapura case. There should be a comprehensive investigation into the case. Whoever is involved, let them be punished. Not only the religious seer, whoever is involved, they should be arrested,” Bommai stated.
Despite the stiff opposition from the local party leaders, the BJP had given tickets to 72 new faces in the last Assembly elections in Karnataka. Former CM Jagadish Shettar, former Deputy CM Laxman Savadi, and former minister K.S. Eshwarappa were denied tickets, and the party suffered a humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections.
With inputs from IANS