K.S. Manjunath, 51, an alleged human trafficker known by the name ‘Santro’ Ravi, was arrested after a chase on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on Friday.He has been in the eye of a storm over his alleged role in police transfers and links to several ruling party politicians.
Manjunath is an accused in a rape and atrocity case registered against him by his wife at Vijayanagar police station, Mysuru, on January 2, and has been on the run since then. His wife alleged that she was drugged, raped, and forced into marriage in 2019. When she tried to get away from him, he got her arrested in a fake dacoity case in November 2022, she alleged. Meanwhile, his alleged political connections had turned into an embarrassment for the government.
Eluding police
“He had been changing his location, cars, phones and SIM cards frequently to mislead the police. He had been to Kerala, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. He entered Gujarat on Friday morning. We got a definite lead and immediately alerted the Gujarat police, with whose assistance we arrested him,” said Alok Kumar, ADGP (Law and Order), announcing his arrest in Mysuru. “All due procedures will be followed and he will be brought to the State after obtaining a transit warrant,” he said.
Mr. Kumar said that the State police had also arrested two men who were with him — Ramji, 45,from Kerala, and Srutesh, 35, from Mysuru — and their role is being probed. They had also arrested one of his close associates, Madhusudhan, from the State.
The police have raided ‘Santro’ Ravi’s R.R. Nagar residence in Bengaluru and recovered a cache of incriminating material, Mr. Kumar said.
HDK’s fresh charge
Janata Dal (S) leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who has been harping on the alleged links of ‘Santro’ Ravi with Ministers in the State, suspected that the arrest was pre-mediated.
“How could he go to Gujarat? Who allowed him to cross the State’s border? Was there a plan to send him off abroad?” he asked. He even linked Home Minister Araga Jnanendra’s recent visit to Gujarat to the arrest there. Mr. Kumaraswamy had earlier alleged ‘Santro’ Ravi had “counted money” at Mr. Jnanendra’s residence, a charge strongly denied by the Home Minister. On Friday,Mr. Jnanendra congratulated the State police for arresting Ravi.
‘Act against officials’
Parashuram of the Mysuru-based NGO Odanadi that is fighting against human trafficking cases, said that ‘Santro’ Ravi symbolised the rot that had crept into administration and his arrest was not something to be gloated over. “Far more important is to bring such officials to justice who allowed a free hand to the accused to meddle in administrative matters and thus compromised the authority of the State,” he said.
