Self-styled godman arrested for duping people, ₹34.5L recovered

TOOK MONEY FROM PEOPLE FOR PROVIDING THEM GOVT JOBS; HE FLED WITH THE MONEY TO RAJASTHAN WHERE HE WAS LIVING IN DISGUISE, SAID POLICE

AMRITSAR: A self-styled saint was arrested from Alwar in Rajasthan for duping people in the holy city by promising them government jobs, Amritsar commissionerate police said on Monday. The police also recovered Rs 34.5 lakhs from the accused—bhupinder Singh aka Baba—of Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar in Amritsar.

After cheating people in Amritsar, the 54-year-old selfstyled ‘saint’ left the city and had been living in Alwar city of Rajasthan for last few a months, said police.

Manbir Singh (37) of Kot Khalsa area in Amritsar had lodged a complaint with Chheharta police on August 16 against the Baba. “I am a taxi driver. When I got to know of a ‘saint’ who was helping provide government jobs, I gave him Rs2.5 lakh for a government job for my nephew Mandeep Singh. Later, I got to know he fled with his family from the city with our money, and that he had cheated many people in the same manner,” the complainant stated.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (City2), Sandeep Kumar Malik, said, “After a tip off, a team led-by station house officer (SHO) of Chheharta, Rajwinder Kaur, was arrested on Sunday from Alwar in Rajasthan. He was living in disguise with his family.”

The ADC said that the Baba was a retired soldier and had been working as a security guard at Satyam college in Amritsar. Besides this job, he had been preaching to people at his rented home in Chheharta.

A case under section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) had already been registered against the accused at Chheharta police station.