[ Bengia Ajum ]
BOMDILA, 18 Sep: The police here in West Kameng district have arrested 11 men who were posing as sadhus and collecting money in the township in the name of constructing an ashram in Malda, West Bengal.
After being alerted to the suspicious activities of the group, the Bomdila police picked them up for questioning, and busted the fake sadhu gang. The group had collected Rs 70,000 in two days from Bomdila town as donation.
The police also contacted the local authorities in Malda for verification, and it was found that no ashram construction is going on in the area.
“The group has so far visited different places of Arunachal Pradesh, including Itanagar, Naharlagun, Pasighat, Aalo, Basar, Daporijo, and Seppa, and collected huge money by deceiving innocent people over the last three to four years. Goods, cash, mobile phones, and other fake documents were recovered from their possession,” informed Bomdila PS OC (i/c) K Dev.
A case [u/s 120 (b)/420/34 IPC] has been registered, and the fake sadhus were arrested and produced before the chief judicial magistrate.
The police also raided the room where the group was staying in Bomdila.
“Their room was raided and 200 booklets were found. Along with it, many other suspicious items were also recovered. After checking, we found a suspicious transaction of Rs 15 lakhs in the last eight months in the account of one of the arrested persons,” added Dev.
The police have urged the people not to fall prey to such fake groups.
