How salon-styled ‘pracharak’ cheated BJP ticket aspirant

Hindutva activist Chaithra Kundapur and her seven accomplices weaved a "web of deceit and lies" to cheat Bengaluru-based industrialist Govind Babu Poojari of Rs 5 crore in the months leading to the assembly elections this year, according to police. 

In his complaint at the Bandepalya police station on September 8, Poojari narrated how Chaithra boasted about her connections with BJP and RSS leaders, the PMO and Supreme Court judges. She promised him the BJP ticket from Baindoor if he was ready to pay the "right price". 

Poojari owns Cheftalk Food and Hospitality Service Pvt Ltd, which has been running Indira Canteens since 2017. 

Aspiring to enter politics, he was introduced to Chaithra, a former television anchor who shot to fame for her fiery anti-Muslim speeches. Prasad Baindoor, a mutual friend, acted as the go-between. Chaithra later introduced Poojari to BJP leader Gagan Kadur and 'Vishwanathji', a "senior RSS pracharak" from Chikkamagaluru. 

Vishwanath claimed to be a member of BJP's national election committee and said he had the "final say" in candidate selection. In July 2022, he asked Poojari to pay Rs 50 lakh within three days and another Rs 3 crore later. He was promised a full refund if he didn't make it to the list. 

Between July 7, 2022, and January 16, 2023, Poojari said, he paid them Rs 5 crore. Of this, he paid Rs 1.5 cr to Abhinava Halasree Swami, the head of Maha Samsthna Math, Hirehadagali, near Hosapete. 

But just days before BJP announced its candidates for the election, Gagan informed Poojari that Vishwanath had "died" in a Kashmir hospital. 

An ex-serviceman friend later told Pujari there was no RSS pracharak named Vishwanathji. 

When confronted, Chaithra and Gagan told Pujari all his money was taken by Vishwanathji, who had "passed away". 

The pair threatened to consume poison when Pujari said he would go to the police, and stopped returning his calls. The swamiji" said he didn't know who Vishwanathji was but promised to return Pujari's Rs 1.5 crore within a month. 

Poojari later learnt it was Ramesh Naik who was "disguised" as RSS pracharak Vishwanathji at a hair salon. 

Prajwal alias Naik, who posed as a member of the BJP election committee, turned out to be a street vendor selling kebabs in KR Puram. 

A senior police officer close to the investigation said Poojari had submitted the proof of payment and that they were making efforts to recover the money. 

"Chaithra was absconding for two days after the police complaint," the officer added. 

TV reports claimed Suraiya Anjum, a youth Congress spokesperson in Udupi, had sheltered Chaithra. Anjum denied it. "We both worked at a local news channel but I wasn't in touch with her," she said. 

The officer declined to disclose the circumstances of Chaithra's arrest. 

Chaithra's claim to fame 

Though Chaitra held no key posts in the Sangh Parivar, she was invited as a keynote speaker at events organised by right-wing groups to make people "cautious” about cattle theft, religious conversions, hijab and Love Jihad. 

She faces three hate speech cases in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada. 

Following Chaithra's arrest, many BJP leaders declared her as an "imposter" who used Hindutva to con unsuspecting people. 

Prajwal.

Ramesh Naik.

Srikanth Naik Pelathur.

Dhanraj.