Nagpur: A
godman was arrested for blackmailing in a raid conducted jointly by social
service branch (SSB) and activists championing the cause of anti-superstition in
the city, on Tuesday evening.
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Gholu Singh
(centre) along with a devotee (left) and a cop attached to the social service
wing of Nagpur police during a raid of Pachpaoli on Tuesday. |
In the raid,
which was led by sub inspector P.V Balbuddhe of SSB and Umesh Chaube and Harish
Deshmukh of Akhil Bharatiya Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, the accused Bholu
Singh alias Gurpreet Singh Wadhwa was trapped after accepting the first
instalment of Rs 1,000 from complainant Bhupendra Beant Singh. The accused
reportedly referred himself as Pir Nigahe Baba. Reportedly, the bogus godman
used to pressurise complainant Singh to donate Rs. 51,000 at his behest.
According to the complaint made to B K Upadhyay, addittional commissioner of
police (crime),the accused used to claim credit for the return of Singh’s lost
son Parbinder,’Who went missing from home in August last year. The missing boy
was later found in Mumbai. “My son was found because of my influential reIatives
in the CBI department but this babaji used to harass me for money claiming that
his supernatural power was behind the return of my son,” said complainant
Bhupender. “He used to threaten us saying that either he would get my son
kidnapped or killed,” claimed Bhupender. Hassled by the godman, Bhupender
approached the activists who led him to the crime branch,informed constable
Hemant Nandeshwar. Receiving the complaint, the crime branch made a plan and
trapped the accused while accepting the donation which he claimed to be sending
to his superior in Punjab. A complaint was lodged at Panchpaoli police station
and case of forgery and under relevant section of Indian Penal Code. TNN
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