Hyderabad: Godman held for duping people, one kg gold ornaments seized

Hyderabad: A self-styled godman was today arrested from here for allegedly duping people, and one kg gold ornaments were seized from him, police said.

According to police, the accused, identified as Neduri Srinu, is a notorious inter-state swindler.

"Srinu, a native of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh is a notorious cheater, who used to pose as a swamy/ baba (self-styled godman). He used to make people believe that he would double their gold ornaments by performing a pooja," M Venkateswarlu, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Panjagutta Division), said.

"Whenever the devotees visited him, he used to mix sleeping pills in the tirtham (holy water) or prasadam (holy food) and offer them to people and their kin. After they fell unconscious, he used to decamp with their gold ornaments," the senior police officer said.

Thereafter, the accused used to directly head to Varanasi or Madurai. He would then hatch a plan and go to new places to dupe people in a similar way, he said.

"While travelling to pilgrimage places across the country, Srinu used to induce his fellow passengers saying that he runs an ashram in Chennai. He would also tell them that he knows sellers of gold and asked them to purchase from them at less prices," the ACP said explaining his modus operandi.

With Srinus arrest, police claimed to have detected eleven such cases he was allegedly involved in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, police added.