Man held with Sathya Sai trust cash sent to custody

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A man arrested with35 lakhs allegedly belonging to the Sathya Sai Central Trust was on Monday sent to judicial custody for a week.

A local court in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district remanded Harishnanda Shetty in custody till June 27. the police presented the arrested man along with the money recovered from him before the magistrate. Shetty was arrested by the police early on Sunday at a toll gate near Hindupur town when he was shifting the cash from Puttaparthi to Bengaluru.

He reportedly told the police that a driver of one of the trust members gave him the money for handing it over to a person in Bengaluru. A police officer said they were questioning two trust employees to trace the source of the money.

Sathay Sai Baba’s nephew and trust member R.J. Ratnakar on Sunday clarified that the trust has nothing to do with the cash. He said in a statement that the cash belongs to 12 devotees and they would give all the details to the police. Director general of police Aravinda Rao on Monday said investigations were on in the case. The money was seized two days after the trust opened Yajur Mandir, the residential chamber of the Sathay Sai Baba at Prashanti Nilayam in Puttaparthi. The trust on Friday declared that it found11.56 crores, 98 kg gold and gold jewellery, and 307 kg of silver articles inside the chamber and these have been deposited with the State Bank of India.

The arrest and recovery of money at Hindupur came amid apprehensions in a section of devotees that huge amounts of cash and jewellery were shipped out of Yajur Mandir when Sathya Sai Baba was battling for life at a hospital. He passed away April 24.