Fake godman extorts ₹3.50 crore from Adoni couple
ADONI: A self-styled godman allegedly frightened a couple with tales of occult rituals and siphoned off about ₹3.50 crore from them in Kurnool district’s Baidigerri village.
Couple say police ignored repeated complaints
Venkataiah and Padma, residents of Pebbair in Telangana’s Wanaparthy district, told the Friday public grievance meet organised by Adoni MLA Parthasarathi that they had been struggling with health problems.
They said someone told them that “a deity descends” at Baidigerri and that visiting the place would resolve their health issues. The couple went there a few days later.
Occult stories, false claims of hidden treasure
According to them, Durgasingh, a local man, took advantage of their situation and spun stories about a hidden treasure in their field. He allegedly warned that the couple and their children faced “serious danger” until the treasure was retrieved. He first collected ₹80 lakh from them for the supposed ritual.
One night, he allegedly performed occult rituals at the couple’s farmland near their native village, Undavalli. He then showed them a three-foot idol, claiming it had “emerged from the ground”. He told them keeping it at home would endanger their lives, but selling it would fetch crores.
Five trips to Delhi, crores collected
Durgasingh allegedly told the couple that foreign buyers had come to Delhi to purchase the idol and took them there five times. During this period, he allegedly collected about ₹3.50 crore from them.
When they realised they had been cheated and demanded their money back, the couple said Durgasingh and another man, Mukund, threatened to kill them if they returned to the village.
‘Police did not act,’ say victims
“We filed a complaint at Pebbair police station. No one responded. Last month we came to Adoni and complained to the DSP and the local police station inspector, but nothing happened,” the couple told the MLA in tears.
When MLA Parthasarathi contacted the Adoni DSP, the officer reportedly said a case had not been registered because the police “found no evidence”.
The couple also displayed the idol and the materials used in the rituals.
