Sleuths want to grill Ranjitha too
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BANGALORE MIRROR BUREAU
Tamil film actress Ranjitha, caught in a steamy video with Swamy Nithyananda, will be summoned by the CID to record her statement after the investigating officers are done with interrogating the disgraced Swamy. The godman will be in CID custody till Monday. Though Ranjitha is learnt to have admitted to her role in the video, her statement is required for the purpose of the CID’s investigation.
On Friday, CID officials headed by DIG Charan Reddy and Superintendent of Police Yogappa interrogated Nithyananda from 11 am till late in the evening.
According to CID sources, Nithyananda was asked about his personal life and how he became a godman. “We asked questions about his family background, educational qualifications, his previous work before he became a Swamy, etc. We also asked him about his ashrams across the world, and he said he has 14 ashrams of which two are in the US. He said some of the ashrams, including their land, belong to him while others have been taken on rent. We asked him what made him run away from his ashram in the name of 'spiritual seclusion', and whether he was simply trying to evade arrest, to which he said he had gone to Haridwar to attend the Kumbh Mela. We need to know under what circumstances he fled to Himachal Pradesh,” the sources said.
The CID officials have sent the seized laptops, hard disks, mobile phones and pen drives to the Central Forensic Laboratory in Hyderabad to have their contents examined.
During the interrogation, Nithyananda, who has been allowed food of his choice, preferred to have dry fruits. According to the sources, he co-operated with his interrogators. He was allowed a half-hour break around 2 pm.