The arrest of an Indian priest when he landed at Dubai on Thursday morning and the subsequent diplomatic effort by India to secure his release on bail has become a talking point in Dubai’s Indian community. The arrested priest-turned-businessman is said to be close to senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) office bearers. Some people in Dubai told the National Herald that he claimed to represent no less than the RSS chief.

While Dubai Police remained tight-lipped, it is claimed that the ‘businessman priest’ was arrested following complaints from a member of the royal family that he was misusing the family’s name to raise capital.

While influential members of Dubai’s Indian community said that the Indian Consul General himself had reached the police station to ensure his bail, the CG himself, when contacted, was evasive. He had been told that an Indian by that name had landed into some trouble, said the CG Vipul who had worked with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj before taking up his assignment in Dubai.

“He was in some trouble,” Consul General of India in Dubai, Vipul, told the National Herald but didn’t disclose the charges framed against Prabhakar. “I will need to check exact status.”

“The Consulate General of India Dubai intervened for his release as he is said to be close to the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat,” sources revealed, adding that “Though he is out on the bail, his passport is still with the Dubai police.”

The passport that Dubai Police had confiscated (see pic) identified him as Sudhir Prabhakar Pujari and he is in formal clothes in the photograph affixed.