Fake sadhus gang from Rajasthan held in Hyd

Hyderabad: A gang of fake sadhus from Rajasthan was arrested by the Telangana police who duped a person to the tune of over Rs 37 lakh in the name of black magic. The Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwath on Tuesday informed the arrest of four fake sadhus, along with three Hawala operators.

Two of the fake sadhus and as many Hawala operators are absconding.

Accused were roaming in residential areas in the guise of sadhus searching for people with mental disabilities.

They used to tell the victims that they have some doshas like sarpadosham and nagadosham and in the name of performing occult puja were collecting huge amounts through Hawala.

In astrology, dosha is a term that refers to unfavourable conditions caused by the bad placement or association of planets in the birth.

The arrests were made on a complaint by a victim Kondal Reddy, who is into transport business. They cheated him to the tune of Rs 37.71 lakh.

According to police, Reddy had sustained injuries in November 2020 when he fell down from motorcycle after losing balance as he came across a snake.

Sanjunath and Ghorakhnath, who went to his transport office for alms, inquired about his injury. When Reddy narrated the incident, they told him that he has sarpa dosha and to come out of it they have to perform Puja. They visited his house and performed some puja for which they charged Rs 41,000. Later, all the six accused continued to cheat him on one pretext or the other. They fleeced him of Rs 37.71 lakh till February 2022.

The accused were making the victim deposit cash with hawala agents and they in turn were transferring amount to Sanjunath and his associates.

Ramnath (40), Jonnatg (33), Govindnath (25), Arjunnath (22), Punaram (37), Vasna Ram (22), prakash Jota (27), all natives of Rajasthan have been arrested in a joint operation by Special Operations Team of Bhongir Zone and Bhongir town police station.

Sanjunath, Gorakhnath, Prakash Prajapathi and Ramesh Prajapati, also from Rajasthan, were yet to be arrested.

Police seized Rs 8.30 lakh in cash from the accused. It also seized 12 cell phones, rudraksha malas, garland with aghoraas, kamandalam and money counting machine.