Bangalore: Mangalore District Crime Investigation Bureau sleuths busted a fake sex CD racket, which was created to tarnish the image of godman Swami Raghaveshwara Bharathi of Ramachandrapura Mutt, Shimoga.
Four persons, including a local youth Congress leader were arrested on Friday in the case.
According to the police, the racket was engineered by opposition parties in order to harm the BJP government, which is perceived to be close to the swami.
Incidentally, the swami actively with the government to adopt the anti-cow slaughter bill.
IGP Western Range, Gopal B Hosur said, "We have arrested a few people who were involved in attempts to tarnish the image of Swamiji. The arrested are priests of the same mutt and Rajiv Adi, a Youth Congress leader."
To make the sex CD, the accused allegedly used photographs of Ravi Kodlakere, a look alike of Bharathi.
The accused had allegedly planned to hand it over to an electronic media for broadcasting in the hope that the swami would be embroiled in a controversy.
The accused were allegedly unhappy with the swami for his proximity to the Sangh Parivaar and for inviting actress Mallika Sherawat to a programme in Gokarna.
He is also believed to have taken over the management of the Gokarna temple and is said to have shielded Jaadess Sharma, a relative who was allegedly involved in the sexual harassment of a girl.
They had assumed that the CDs would help them regain control of the famous Mahabaleshwara temple in Gokarna, which was handed over to Bharathi by the state government in August 2008.
The swami's associate Vinayaka Bhat, who learnt about the CD informed Bharathi. He turned to Home Minister V S Acharya, who has launched an investigation into the matter.