Hunt for man after video on Nithyananda's interrogation is stolen

The criminal investigation department (CID) has arrested a technician and is on the lookout for the owner of a private media agency for its involvement in stealing video clips of the interrogation of Paramahamsa Nithyananda, the self-styled godman embroiled in a sex scandal.

The CID had registered a case under the IT Act and the Indian Penal Code at the cyber crime police station situated on the CID campus after the agency came to know about the video that was posted on YouTube.

“Investigations revealed that the new interrogation room was constructed by the Public Works Department (PWD),” CID director general of police DV Guruprasad said in an official release on Friday. “The PWD had given a private agency the contract to set up the recording facility in the interrogation room,” the release said.

“A technician called Suresh was entrusted with the job of setting up audio and video recording systems. He was arrested on May 5,” the release said.

CID officials found that Suresh had surreptitiously stolen some of the video clips of Nithyananda’s interrogation. He handed over them to a private agency, Sinchana Media, in Jayanagar, Guruprasad said.

CID officials found the video clips in one of the computers in the office of Sinchana Media. The IP address from which the clippings were uploaded to YouTube belonged to the agency. The CID was hunting for the agency’s promoter, Mohan, the release said.

Suresh had been remanded in judicial custody, CID superintendent of police KH Chandrashekhar said.