Udupi: Udupi Congress leader Suraiyya Anjum has denied that Chaithra Kundapura, a self-proclaimed Sangh leader from coastal Karnataka, took refuge in her house at Udupi before her arrest in a cheating case, and threatened legal action against those making the claim.
Speaking to ThePrint, she said the two were friends but not in regular touch.
“I am filing a defamation case against some media (establishments). I am waiting for it to come through and [will] then address a press conference,” Anjum said Wednesday.
Kundapura and six of her aides were arrested by the Bengaluru Police on 12 September from Udupi. At the time, a senior police officer had told ThePrint that Kundapura was hiding at Anjum’s residence.
The arrests followed a police complaint by BJP functionary Govinda Babu Poojary on 8 September, accusing Kundapura of duping him of Rs 5 crore on the promise of a party ticket to contest this year’s assembly polls.
According to the FIR — seen by ThePrint — the suspects were booked under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 419 and 420 (cheating), 170 (impersonating a public servant), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
In all, eight persons mentioned in the FIR, including a seer named Abinava Halashree Swamy, have been arrested by Bengaluru’s Central Crime Branch (CCB).
Speaking to ThePrint, Anjum said it was her mother who lived in Udupi while she was a Mangaluru resident. “On 7 September, they (police and media) said that Chaithra had been hiding in my house for seven days. But the case was filed on 8 September,” she said.
The aforementioned police officer had told The Print that Kundapura had been hiding at Anjum’s place before the official complaint was filed.
“I am not aware why my name has come up (in the case). No one in the Congress has asked me about it,” Anjum said. Adding that she was pregnant, she wondered why she was “being targeted” or “why the police are trying to question” her.
Senior Udupi Congress leader Amrit Shenoy told ThePrint that “nobody has accused Suraiyya that she is also part of the deal (fraud)”.
“She has not been arrested nor has the police given her a notice. Police is not bothered to even take a statement from her. As a friend (of Chaithra Kundapura’s), she (Anjum) was in touch. But that is not an offence as she does not know that Chaithra is capable of such scams.”
Police have cited the friendship between the two women to validate their claim that Kundapura was hiding in Anjum’s Udupi home. She hasn’t been served a notice for questioning yet.
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‘Friends, but not in regular touch’
Visuals of Chaithra Kundapura’s arrest on TV and social media showed she was picked up from the front yard of the famous Krishna Matha while making an alleged bid to escape by running inside the monastery.
Anjum said Kundapura was a friend and former colleague, adding that both had worked for a local TV channel around five years ago.
Before her arrest, Kundapura was known for making provocative speeches. Over the years, she has shared the stage with prominent seers, leaders of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar, giving the impression that she had strong political connections. She allegedly used this perception of her purported connections to con Poojary.
Speaking about her friendship with Kundapara, Anjum said, “We never speak about ideologies and we are not in regular touch. When we do speak, it’s never about our politics or ideologies.”
“Just because members of the Sangh Parivar seemingly spew hate on stage, I and others like me cannot hate them all day,” she added.
“Even though I oppose her ideology, there is something called humanitarianism,” she said. Failing to recall when exactly she met Kundapara last, Anjum said it had been “a long time”.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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