World · India Bureau
Police arrest fake sadhus for extorting shopkeeper with planetary curse threats
Two men posing as holy men have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district for allegedly extorting thousands of rupees from a shopkeeper by threatening him with predictions of untimely death and planetary misalignments. Police recovered the stolen money following their capture.
LSN India ·
Police in Bijnor have arrested two alleged fraudsters accused of running an extortion racket in Nagina Bazaar using fear-mongering tactics rooted in superstition. The suspects, identified as residents of Punjab, posed as sadhus and targeted a local shopkeeper with alarming predictions of premature death and planetary afflictions, demanding money in exchange for spiritual remedies.
The arrests were made with assistance from closed-circuit television footage, which helped investigators track down the accused. According to police records, the men systematically exploited the shopkeeper's vulnerabilities by invoking astrological concepts and spiritual doctrines to justify their demands.
Authorities recovered a portion of the extorted funds from the suspects during the arrest operation. The case underscores an ongoing problem of religious impersonation and superstition-based fraud affecting small business owners across northern India. Police have registered a formal case and are investigating whether the accused targeted other victims in the area.