3 arrested for cheating Muslim devotees

Kadapa: The copsarrested a 3-member gang at Saipet on Thursday for cheating the devotees in the name of Umrah yatra for Saudi Arabia. The accused were identified as Syed Altaf Hussain, Sheik Mahamood Ali of Kadapa city and A Barkat Ali of Rayachoti town.

Addressing the press conference here on Thursday, Central Crime Station (CCS) DSP D Nageswara Reddy said the accused had developed connections with one Muslim religious priest called Imam Hussain belonging to Uttara Pradesh state and collected huge amounts from the Muslim devotees in India and abroad.

The accused deceived devotees by promising to send them to devotional places in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq with less expenditure. They collected Rs 75,000 to 80,000 from eachdevotee.