Bengaluru, Oct 2 (IANS): Karnataka Police investigating the sensational BJP MLA ticket scam are preparing to submit a charge sheet to the court against the accused, including Hindu activist Chaitra Kundapura, seer Abhinava Halasri and others.

Sources said that the officers have completed the probe. The statements of 68 witnesses have been recorded and the charge sheet would be submitted to the court in a week.

The police had recovered Rs 4.11 crore cash from the accused. Seven persons were arrested in connection with the case. The sleuths had gathered preliminary, circumstantial and digital evidence against the accused.

The complainant Govinda Babu Poojari, an industrialist, had handed over 10 videos and audio recordings. The police have retrieved the data of the accused persons and gathered information.

All the accused persons are presently lodged in the Central Jail of Parappana Agrahara in Bengaluru. The courts have denied bail to the accused so far considering the sensitivity of the scandal.

The scam came to light following Govind Babu Poojari's lodging a complaint against Chaitra Kundapura and others for cheating him of Rs 5 crore after promising a BJP ticket. Kundapura, too, had claimed the involvement of the top party leadership in the scam.

Congress spokesperson from Mysuru, M. Laxman had alleged that he had got inputs on the cash-for-ticket scam amounting to Rs 185 crore and that 17 ticket aspirants were cheated by Kundapura. “She got tickets for 23 people and made money,” he had claimed. He had said that Kundapura had direct connections with the BJP top leadership and demanded that these links should be probed.

The BJP had given tickets to 72 new faces in the recently-concluded Assembly elections and faced a humiliating defeat.