27 June,2009 06:10 PM IST | | PTI
A four member-gang, which cheated people into believing that some ancient idols were buried in their house and that it could fetch them a fortune, has been arrested, a top police official said here today.
The modus operandi of the gang members, who were arrested yesterday from Kotigepalya, was to approach people posing as astrologers claiming that with 'help of divine powers,' they were able to detect some ancient idols of deities in the houses or vacant lands of the victims, Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari told reporters.
The gang would then enter the house on the pretext of performing a pooja to ascertain the exact location.They then would ask the family members to leave the place for sometime till the pooja was over and then place an idol unnoticed.They would later summon the members and guide them to the spot, making them believe that it had been lying there all along. They would charge the family a sum ranging from Rs 50,000 to over Rs five lakh ''for the services offered,' promising to come back with 'a huge sum of money' after selling off the idol,he said. The arrested have been identified as Nagaraj (52) who posed as an astrologer, Vishwanatah (20), Rajamanikem (49), Muniraju (38), he said.
