Two posing as sadhus dupe Kota man of jewellery, arrested

Kota: Two fraudsters were arrested from Haryana for allegedly duping a man here of his gold and silver jewellery by posing as sadhus, police said on Saturday. The accused have been identified as Nawab Nath (35), of Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Budh Nagar and Sanjeev Nath (28) from Haryana's Palwal, they said. Police recovered gold jewellery and a luxurious car from their possession, SP (Kota city) Sharad Choudhary said.

The complainant, a resident of Kota's Kunhari area, alleged that a sadhu came with him to his home on June 3 and on the pretext of sorting out family issues with puja, he cheated them of gold and silver jewellery by tricking them. Nath was detained from his in-laws' house in Haryana. Sanjeev is his distant relative. The accused would select soft targets with some family issues with the claim of getting rid of the trouble through "exorcism" and worship. They would ask the victims to place their jewellery at the puja and would cheat them with handy tricks.

During interrogation, the two accused admitted to having cheated at least 16 people with the same modus operandi in UP, MP, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi, Choudhary said. The two accused would be produced before a court on Sunday and would be taken on remand for interrogation on recovery of remaining jewellery, he said. The family members of the two accused and locals in the village in Palwal district protested the arrest carried out in coordination with Kota police and damaged the glasses of a police van, however, the local police did not give a report on it, DSP Shankar Lal said.