HYDERABAD: The city police today arrested a 44-year-old man who posed as a 'self-styled' godman and an astrologer and allegedly cheated people by taking money from them on the pretext of resolving their personal issues.
The accused, Narasimha Charyulu, ran an office in the name of 'Bhavishyawani' in Meerpet area here, a senior police official said. He posed as a godman and allegedly collected over Rs 50 lakh from several people by assuring that he would resolve their issues, like family disputes, and health, marriage and job-related matters.
Charyulu also allegedly developed an illicit relationship with some women in the guise of solving their problems, Deputy Commissioner of Police (L B Nagar zone) M Venkateshwar Rao said.
The accused, who also has offices in Vijayawada, Nellore, Visakhapatnam and Guntur (in Andhra Pradesh) featured in some programmes on TV channels in which he claimed that he had remedies for all their problems, the DCP said.
The police seized a fake pistol, a fake CBI identity card and some other items from his possession.
"Charyulu threatened the victims by showing the fake weapon and CBI identity card when they asked him to return their money. So far, five cases have been registered against him and more people are approaching with complaints against him," the senior police official said.
The police have registered offences against the accused under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), he said.