Two Sathya Sai Baba aides to be questioned - Hindustan Times

Two aides of the late Sathya Sai Baba were directed on Wednesday to appear before the Anantapur superintendent of police for questioning on the recovery of Rs 85.5 lakh. The money reportedly belonged to the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust (SSSCT), which the spiritual guru ran. Two rounds of seizure were made, on June 19 and 20, from Bangalore-bound vehicles. One of the vehicles used to transport cash belonged to the SSSCT.

The police said two SSSCT members, RJ Ratnakar, who is Sathya Sai Baba’s nephew, and V Srinivasan, had been notified for questioning in the next three days. The move follows the statement of an arrested person by the name H Shetty, who was carrying cash on June 19.

“We may call other trustees for questioning to trace the source of the money,” said a police officer.

The police have so far questioned about six employees of the Puttaparthi ashram. The six include chief security officer B Pradhan, who told the police he was not on duty in the evening of June 19, when cash was reportedly taken out of the ashram to be transported to Bangalore.

As part of the investigations into the cash trail of the trust, the police on Wednesday questioned Venkatesh (full name could not be ascertained), personal assistant of Srinivasan, and R Sadashivan, a close friend of Shetty.

Following the cash seizure, the government is under pressure for a thorough investigation.

The opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has termed the goings-on in the trust “a big scam” and questioned why the state was going slow on enquiry.