Court directs Sai cash to be deposited in SBI

ANANTAPUR: In a significant development, the judicial first class magistrate court in Hindupur directed the officials to deposit the Rs 35.5 lakh cash seized at Kodikonda checkpost on June 18, said to be that of Satya Sai Central Trust in Puttaparthi, with the SBI Hindpur branch till further orders.It may be recalled that the cash was seized by the police at Kodikonda checkpost on June 18 and three persons - Harish Nandasetty, Sohan Setty and Chandrasekhar - were arrested in the connection and later released.Satya Sai Central Trust members RJ Ratnakar and V Srinivasan were later questioned by the police, based on the information that the cash had originated from Prashanti Nilayam in Puttaparthi.  Srinivasan,  however, said  that the cash was given by some  Sai devotees for construction of Mahasamadhi.Meanwhile, IT officials filed a petition saying that there is an ambiguity  in the versions of the accused and urged the court to hand over the cash to the IT department. At the same time, Bangalore-based construction company  Sankara Narayana Constructions filed a petition claiming that the cash was meant for them and was seized while it was being brought to them. After hearing both the arguments, magistrate Kamalakar Reddy directed officials to deposit the cash with SBI Hindupur.