Hyderabad: The list of fake babas is on a rise in the country. A self-proclaimed godman was arrested in Hyderabad on Monday while trying to sell cheap pearls, showcasing them as diamonds.
According to the Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar police, Madiriki Babu Rao, 50, an astrologist by profession and a resident of Balkampet in SR Nagar, was arrested while trying to sell 97 fake diamonds to unwary people, reports Telangana Today.
The police were alerted by a prompt and they carried out a decoy operation on godman’s house. He was arrested red-hand while trying to settle a deal with his customer, police said.
“During questioning, it was revealed that he purchased the cheap pearls from Charminar and was trying to sell them at exorbitant prices saying they were diamonds,” said M Venkateswarlu, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Punjagutta Division.
Police said Rao had also claimed to be a member of the Press, ‘Indian American Council’ as well as a human rights activist. He had fake identity cards with different titles to take customers into his confidence.
“He also had different voter ID cards with various names like Manik Baasha, Dr Jitender Kulkarini Madriki, and M Babu Rao apart from a driving license in the name of M. Rama Chandra and a PAN card for Jitender Kulkarini Madriki with his photograph on them,” Venkateswarlu said.
Rao was also arrested in May 2015 by the SR Nagar police for selling brass antique idols projecting them as ‘panchaloha’ idols. The cheating case was still pending before the court, police said. Rao was produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.