A fake IAS officer was arrested by the police on charges of duping a priest and several others by providing them with the fake tickets for the special puja and other religious services at the famous lord Venkateshwara temple at Tirumala.
Central Crime Station of Hyderabad city police arrested the con man H Venkat Ramanna Rao who had claimed to be an IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre and promised to arrange special puja and other services tickets for a Hyderbad-based priest Narasimha Charyulu and his followers.
The priest Charyulu lodged a complaint with the police that the cheater had contacted him in December last and won his confidence by claiming to be his admirer. “He told me that he had attended my pujas and became my admirer”, Charyulu told the police.
later the fake IAS officer told the priest that he can arrange special Darshan and other facilities for them at the Tirumala temple. Believing him, the priest and his followers deposited an amount of Rs 13 lakh in his bank account towards the fee.
But subsequently, he absconded switching off his phone. Realising that they were duped, the pritest approached the police and arrested him after the investigation.
Tirumala temple was in the news recently when it was revealed that its staff had sold thousands of VIP tickets by taking money causing immense hardship to the common visitors.