Vizianagaram police arrests a gang who cheated people by selling idols

A gang trying to earn easy money by selling idols having supernatural powers to innocent people was caught by the Vizianagaram police on Thursday. DSP of Vizianagaram, P Anil said that they are  identified as Rajanala Srinivasa Rao (48) and Rongali Ramasatyam (53), both natives of Vizianagaram, P Venkata Rao (57), a resident of Vizag city and Divakar Kiran Kumar (30) of Chhattisgarh.

He said that the gang used to identify the people who are debt ridden due to loss in business and convinced them that these idols having powers would bring luck and wealth. They also put the price very high but sold at convenient price.

In the incident which led to their arrest, four members of the gang approached one Kalla Mahesh, a native of Nellimarla in Vizianagaram and they told him that they would sell a most magical power deity idol for a price of  Rs.5 lakh. One of the members of the gang posed as an appraiser of the magical idol.

The gang asked Mahesh to pay Rs. 20,000 as advance to see the idol and another Rs two lakh to test the magical powers of the idol. The police said that on May 27, 2021, Mahesh was asked to come to VT Agraharam where he paid the gang Rs20,000 as advance.  When Mahesh again met the gang to see the idol and purchase it on August 10, 2021, the gang had shown an old idol (a statue of soldier during the East India regime-1818) to him and claimed the statue has all magical powers. Mahesh, who expected a deity idol, was disappointed after seeing the statue and asked for the deity idol. In the process, there was a difference between the gang and Mahesh. 

Realizing he was cheated, Mahesh approached the Vizianagaram Rural Police on the same day. The police nabbed four members of the gang and seized the statue of a soldier and one car from them. The police launched a manhunt for one more accused Narayana Rao, the DSP stated.