Hyderabad: A self-styled baba who “cheated” nearly 60 people by collecting around Rs 50 crore from them as donations and investing it for purchasing land has been arrested in the Chaitanyapuri area. “Factory worker Umashankar became Umashankar baba and collected crores from the public,” police said.
M. Umashankar, 49, a native of Vuyyuru in East Godavari district, came to Hyderabad after completing Polytechnic in 1985 and worked for a company in Patancheru for about four years. Later, he shifted to Cherlapally and worked in different companies for six years. During the period, he started dabbling in astrology and palmistry means to earn some extra income. Six years ago, he purchased a flat in Alkapuri area and started projecting himself as Umashankar baba and began counselling people free of cost. His main target used to be women. Since he did not charge any fee he soon managed to attract a large following.
Chaitanyapuri inspector Naveen Kumar said, “After gaining confidence he started visiting the homes of his followers. To them, he explained his idea to set up a small scale business and use the profits to help poor children.” He thus collected nearly Rs 50 crore from around 60 wealthy devotees, some of them from abroad, and purchased land in Shamshabad in benami names. He started a firm and appointed one Durga Prasad as its MD and one C.M.K. Rao as director. He also purchased an Audi car and some plots in Shamshabad near the airport.
“He promised to double their money, mortgaged the property, took loans from banks, and used the money for his personal things. When investors started pressurising him to return the money he absconded,” police said. The ‘baba’ has been sent to judicial remand.
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