ANANTAPUR: Police on Monday arrested Pradhan, Chief Security Officer of Prashanti Nilayam, as part of their ongoing probe into the cash flow from Puttaparthi to Bangalore.According to sources, during investigation, it was found that Pradhan, a retired Air Force official, brought Rs 35.5 lakh out of Yajurveda Mandir, Sai Baba’s personal chamber, and handed it over to Sathya Sai Central Trust members RJ Ratnakar and V Srinivasan at the Shanti Bhavan. The cash was in turn given to Chandrasekhar, driver of Srinivasan, and later, was passed on to Sohan Setty and Harish Nandasetty.The trio was caught by the police on Saturday night while transporting the cash to Bangalore. Police are likely to serve notices on Ratnakar and Srinivasan in a day or two, the sources said.Meanwhile, Prashanti Nilayam was stunned into silence following the cash seizures in the last two days and disclosure by the police that the flight of capital from Puttaparthi to Bangalore was traced to some of the Sathya Sai Trust members.Penugonda DSP Kolar Krishna, investigating officer of the case, produced Harish Nandasetty, who was caught carrying Rs 35.5 lakh in a Toyota Qualis at Kodikonda checkpost on Saturday night, before Hindpur Judicial First Class Magistrate Kamalakar Naidu. He was remanded in judicial custody till June 27 and the seized cash was handed over to the court.The other two - Chandrasekhar and Sohan Setty - were also produced before the magistrate and were remanded in judicial custody.On Sunday, Sathya Sai Trust member and Sai Baba’s nephew RJ Ratnakar had contradicted the police and claimed the trust had nothing to do with the cash. He had also claimed that 12 devotees of Baba, linked to the cash seizures, would explain themselves either to the court or the police by Monday. “No one has either approached us or contacted us till now. The cash belongs to the trust,” the Penugonda DSP said.
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