Swami Nithyananda was arrested on Wednesday at Kunihar in Solan district by a team of Karnataka CID Police. Unknown to the locals, the swami was allegedly living there since last month in a house belonging to a Delhi resident Maninder Singh. The Karnataka Police tracked the location with help of signals from his mobile phone, and he was ultimately captured by Solan police at Kunihar.
Solan Superintendent of police, Prem Thakur, confirmed the arrest, saying that it happened 50 km from Shimla, and that the local police helped the Karnataka cops in arresting the swami.
Further, 4 of Nithyananda's deputies - Gopal, Mithyasanatana, Arpil and Arun Raj - were also arrested. The police seized cash amounting to Rs. 3 lakh, travellers' cheques worth $ 2000, 3 video cameras and 2 laptops from the spot.
The counsel for the Swami, H S Chandramouli, said he was unable to confirm the arrest. He said that if his client has indeed been arrested, a fresh application seeking regular bail will be moved, before the court in Ramnagar (near Bangalore). Swami Nithyananda's ashram falls under the Ramnagar jurisdiction.
Swami Nithyananda, founder of Dhyanapeetam, a worldwide movement with headquarters in Bangslore, was caught on camera with a Tamil actress Ranjeeta in a compromising position on 2 March 2010. A court in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu issued a non-bailable arrest warrant when he failed to appear in the case connected with the tapes.