Hyderabad Police arrest fake astrologer for duping people worth Rs 14 lakhs

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 12 : Hyderabad Police on Friday arrested a fake astrologer for allegedly duping people to the tune of Rs 14 lakh on the pretext of suggesting remedies to avoid bad luck by performing black magic.
The South-East Zone team of the Commissioner's Task Force, in collaboration with Chatrinaka Police, successfully apprehended a habitual fake astrologer in Telangana's Hyderabad on Friday.
According to an official statement by the Hyderabad Police, the apprehended accused has been identified as Sirigiri Manjunatha, also known as Brammam, Koya Raju, Arjun Raju, and Manju, who duped the innocent public, extracted huge money in the name of astrology and black magic, and seized net cash of Rs 14.65 lakh and other material objects.
The police said that a complaint was received on January 10, 2024, from an individual named Kandhadi Srikanth Reddy, in which he stated that his mother had been facing chronic health issues for the past 6 months. In November 2023, he and his father, while watching a local channel, observed an advertisement with Manjunatha's phone number on it.
The complainant went to Warangal and met the accused, where the accused, Manjunatha, informed him that he would come to the complainant's house.
Accordingly, on November 4, 2023, Manjunatha came to the complainant's home and said that they had Naradosham in their house. He got them to believe that he would cure his mother's health by offering a pooja and took Rs 2 lakh cash on the same day.
Since then, the complainant has paid him Rs 14 lakh. He later realised that he was being scammed; hence, he lodged a complaint and a case was registered under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC and Sections 2(C) and 7 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act 1954.
After receiving the complaint on January 12, 2024, the South-East Zone team of the Commissioner's Task Force, along with Chatrinaka Police, apprehended the said habitual fake astrologer.
The police said that it was found during further interrogation that the accused, Manjunatha is a native of Warangal and was facing financial problems, after which he hatched a plan to cheat the innocents on a spiritual basis and to gain money illegally.
He published his advertisements as 'Durga Devi Jyothishyalayam' and 'Sammakka Saralamma Jyothishyalayam' in local channels and provided his contact number.
The accused scammed innocent people by telling them that they had Naradosham, Pranagandam, etc. He terrified the victims and collected their photos and huge amounts of money under the guise of performing special puja or black magic.
The police, upon arresting Manjunatha, confiscated net cash amounting to Rs. 14.65 lakh, a mobile phone, credit and debit cards from various banks, and materials used for performing black magic.