Kasaragod: Former DYFI leader Sachitha Rai (27), accused of swindling lakhs by promising government jobs to friends, party members, and colleagues, was arrested while heading to court to surrender on Thursday, October 24.

Rai arrived at her counsel Adv Vinod Mangad's office with her two-month-old child, intending to surrender to the court during its closing hours. However, the Vidyanagar police, led by Inspector Vipin UP, caught wind of her plan and detained her and the child at the advocate's chamber. "As she had her child with her, we sought the magistrate's permission before proceeding with the arrest," said a Vidyanagar police officer.

Ten FIRs for cheating have been registered against Rai across six police stations in Kasaragod and Dakshina Kannada districts. Badiadka police registered six FIRs against Rai. Police stations in Kumbla, Manjeshwar, Melparamba in Kasaragod, and Uppinangadi in Dakshina Kannada registered one FIR each.

After the arrest, Vidyanagar police handed her over to Kumbla police, where the first case was registered. "We will try to complete the paperwork and medical examination soon and present her before the court today itself," said Kumbla Police Station House Officer - Inspector Vinod Kumar KP.

Pressure was mounting on the police to arrest Rai, who was known to be close to the ruling CPM. The District Police Chief assigned Kasaragod DySP Sunil Kumar C K to lead the investigation. Meanwhile, the Youth Congress mocked the police by circulating "look-out notice" posters with Rai's name on social media, while the BJP's youth wing, Yuva Morcha, announced a protest march to the Kumbla police station. The complainants told Onmanorama she had been at her home in Shenni village in Enmakaje grama panchayat when the cases were piling up against her.

When contacted, Rai's husband Jibin said she got summons notices from Badiadka and Kumbla police stations. "As advised by the police, she was going to the court to surrender when she was arrested," he said.

To be sure, the Kasaragod Sessions Court rejected her anticipatory bail application on October 16. She sought exemption from arrest, citing she was the mother of a two-month-old child. However, an investigating officer said they would give her time to approach the High Court for the pre-arrest bail before summoning her for questioning.

Rai, a teacher at the government-aided lower primary school at Badoor in Paivalige grama panchayat, was first booked by Kumbla Police on October 6.

According to the first complainant, Nishmitha Shetty of Kidhur village in Kumbla, Rai took Rs 15 lakh from her promise of a clerical job at the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), a research centre under the Union Ministry of Agriculture in Kasaragod.

Soon after the first case, several of her friends, batch mates at teaching college, CPM comrades, colleagues at her school and community members came forward with complaints that painted a picture of a serial swindler. According to investigating officers, Rai's two bank accounts have seen transactions worth Rs 2 crore. Most of the jobs she promised were with institutes run by the BJP-led Union government and Congress-led government in Karnataka.

After the first complaint, the CPM's Kumbla Area Committee expelled her from the party's primary membership. Its youth wing, the DYFI, had dropped her from the Kasaragod District Committee 10 days before the first complaint was filed, saying she was on maternity leave.

But Nishmitha Shetty's husband, Lokesh Shetty, said he approached the police after the CPM and the Department of Education refused to help get their money back. "One CPM leader even mocked me for giving Sachitha the money," Shetty told Onmanorama.

Rai comes from a staunch Marxist family in Shenni. She and her father are much sought after in party events and programmes because of their fiery oratory, particularly against the Hindutva politics of the BJP and the RSS.

She began her political journey in Class V with Balasangham, the CPM's organisation for schoolchildren. She served as its unit secretary and later as village secretary and became its state committee member. She then advanced through the ranks of the SFI and DYFI. She was a member of DYFI's district committee and the district committee of All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), the women's wing of the CPM.

Interestingly, the note expelling Rai from the party, the CPM Area Committee said she might have connections with BJP leaders in Karnataka.