NEW DELHI. May 4: A con iroversial Hindu guru reputed to be close to Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao was remanded in Jail custody for 10 days today after being arrested for alleged swindling, reports AFP.

Chief Metropolitan Magis trate Prem Kumar ordered Chandraswami and his secretary. Kailaahnath Agarwal, to be kept in New Delhi’s top security Tihar Jail until May 14

Kumar cancelled the bail granted to Chandraswami and Agarwal in 1988 in connection with the charge that they had cheated an expatriate Indian businessman of 100.000 dollars.

The 47-year-old mystic and his secretary were arrested Thursday night in the southern Indian city of Madras by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers and brought to New Delhi. They were held overnight in Tihar.

Chandraswami's lawyer. Ashok Arora, had argued Friday that the charge that they had duped Lakhudhai Patel by allegedly promising to swing lucrative paper and newsprint contracts, was false.

"The businessman said he had been cheated in 1983 and took the trouble of complaining in 1988. We are now in 1996 and Patel has not been showing any interest in the proceedings.'" Arora said.

Tn my humble opinion, the case will take a decade. Nothing has been proved. Will my client stay in jail for the period?” he said, adding that Chandraswami had not flouted any CBI structures which were imposed on him.

The CBI imposed travel restrictions on Chandraswami in 1988 but he was allowed permission to go abroad several times since then.