BANGALORE: Officials of the City crime Branch, on Friday, arrested four men on charges of fraud and cheating. According to the police, the accused hoodwinked people into believing that they had treasure buried in their backyard. They would then convince victims to carry out pujas and rituals to unearth the promised “treasure”.
The accused allegedly charged exorbitant amounts for the pujas.
They would then proceed to bury cheap idols — in the “treasure spots”— that they would later pass off as valuable antiques.
According to the police sources, the accused were stopped at Kitigepalya, on Friday, while they were transporting the idols. They were identified as Nagarj (52), Vishwanath Reddy (20), Rajamanikya (49) and Muniraju (38).
During interrogation, police discovered that the accused Nagaraj was an astrologer. In the pretext of palmistry, he told his clients that they were destined to get crores of money. Nagraj would then proceed to tell his victims about stories of family treasure buried in their land.
To find the treasure, he insisted that the families allow him to conduct a puja, for which he would quote a few lakhs.
In the site, Nagraj would carry out his puja and then ceremoniously unearth idols that he had previously hidden. Nagraj would, then benevolently, advise the families to sell the "valuable antiques".
Police investigations revealed that Nagraj and his accomplices had cheated four families in Bangalore of about Rs 30 lakh. The gang is suspected of cheating Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu among other states.
Police have recovered 16 idols, two swords and one Tata Sumo. Investigations are on.