K’taka police catch absconding sex trafficking accused Santro Ravi in Gujarat

India

pti-PTI

Mysuru,
Jan
13:
K
S
Manjunath
alias
‘Santro’
Ravi,
accused
of
being
the
kingpin
in
human-trafficking
and
having
links
with
politicians
and
meddling
with
police
transfers,
has
been
arrested
in
Gujarat,
police
said
on
Friday.
He
has
been
arrested
in
connection
with
a
case
filed
by
his
wife
in
Mysuru
alleging
she
was
drugged,
raped
and
forced
into
marriage
in
2019.

“He
was
arrested
today
in
Ahmedabad,
Gujarat.
Our
teams
were
searching
for
him
in
various
parts
of
Karnataka
and
the
country.
Under
Mysuru
police
commissioner
Ramesh
Bhanot,
7
or
8
teams
were
formed
and
sent
to
Kerala,
Telangana,
and
Maharashtra,”
Additional
Director
General
of
Police
Law
and
Order
Alok
Kumar
said.

“This
morning,
our
teams
trailed
him
to
Gujarat,
where
he
was
apprehended
with
the
help
of
the
police
there,”
he
said
adding
that
the
accused
is
being
produced
before
Ahmedabad
court
for
taking
the
transit
warrant,
and
then
would
be
brought
here.

Kumar
said
along
with
‘Santro’ Ravi,
two
others
Ramji
and
Satish
have
been
secured
for
harbouring
him,
and
they
would
be
arrested,
too,
and
be
produced
before
court.

Allegations
and
cases
against
him
created
flutter
in
political
circles
for
the
last
couple
of
weeks,
with
the
Opposition
parties
releasing
photographs
and
accusing
BJP
leaders
of
hobnobbing
with
him.
Also,
audio-clips
of
‘Santro’
Ravi
bragging
of
his
proximity
to
government
and
police
officials
were
doing
the
rounds.

Noting
that
a
case
was
registered
against
him
in
Vijayanagar
Police
Station
of
Mysuru
on
January
2,
the
ADGP
said
it
has
been
11
days
since
and
the
police
team
has
been
successful
in
nabbing
him
today
after
making
a
lot
of
efforts.
He
said
Chief
Minister,
Home
Minister,
and
DG
and
IGP
had
expressed
concern
over
the
delay
in
the
arrest,
and
appreciated
the
work
of
the
police.

“Tomorrow
(Saturday),
Ravi
will
most
probably
be
brought
to
Mysuru
and
the
investigation
process
will
start.” Pointing
out
that
‘Santro’
Ravi
was
earlier
booked
under
Goonda
Act
in
2005,
Kumar
said
the
accused
tried
to
escape
by
frequently
changing
places.
“He
had
changed
his
appearance…He
is
a
hardcore
criminal…so
there
was
some
delay.”

“Certain
properties
linked
to
him
have
been
searched
and
certain
items
seized.
These
will
be
investigated
into,”
he
said,
adding
that
all
other
cases
linked
with
or
pending
against
him
including
political
and
police
links
would
be
looked
into
in
the
days
to
come.