Swami Amritachaitanya back in police custody till May 23

Kochi, May 20 (UNI) A lower court here today remanded controversial Swami Amritachaitanya alias Santosh Madhavan, charged with rape of minor girls, making of pornographic films and financial fraud, to police custody till May 23.

Judicial First Class Magistrate-II K S Sharatchandran directed the police to produce Madhavan before him at 1100 hrs on May 23.

The court rejected the objections raised by Madhavan's counsel against handing him over to police custody.

Producing Madhavan in the court yesterday at the end of his five-day police custody, police had sought extension of his remand as three more rape charges had been filed against him.

The court yesterday sent him to judicial custody till June two and posted hearing on the police application to today.

Police had arrested Madhavan on May 13 after registering a case of rape of minor girls, whose studies he had sponsored, and a cheating case following a complaint from non-resident Keralite businesswoman Serafin Edwin that the bogus swami had duped her of Rs 40 lakh in Dubai.

UNI XR-ARC SY US1609