Hyderabad: A man posing as an IAS officer cheated gullible devotees by offering them special tickets for Abhishekam Vastram Seva and also Udayaastham Seva at Tirumala. The crook convinced the victims that being an IAS officer he had close connections with TTD officials and special passes for the pujas.
A temple priest from Jiyaguda lodged a complaint with the city police and police from the Central Crime Station arrested the fraudster named H. Venkataramana Rao on Tuesday.
Venkataramana is a native of Aallagadda in Kurnool, and had sustained heavy losses in his business in Hydeabad.
Central Crime Station DCP Pala Raju said that Venkataramana had called up the temple priest Narasimha Charyulu, on January 18, and introduced himself as an IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre.
“He convinced the priest that he had participated in a puja performed by him in Hyderabad and had become a disciple. He wished to gift the priest a special ticket for different pujas.
He said that the executive officer of the TTD was a friend and thus he could get the ticket. Later, he called the victim again and said that he has some more tickets and if anybody else wants them, he would give it for money,” said the DCP.
The victim, Narasimha Charyulu, believed him and collected Rs 13 lakh from different devotees who wished to go to Tirupati, and deposited the money in the bank account as directed.
It was only when the fraudster stopped responding to his calls that he realised he had been duped.
Police seized an Alto car and Rs 6.4 lakh from the accused.
