A self-proclaimed ‘tantrik’, 35-year-old Yarkala Balaraju of Bibinagar who was cheating gullible people with a promise to solve their problem with black magic, has been arrested by the Hyderabad city police here on Friday.
A team of the sleuths of Commissioner’s Task Force (North Zone), led by inspector K. Nageswar Rao, apprehended Balaraju and seized 570 grams of old ornaments worth ₹ 25.65 lakh and a mobile phone from his possession.
So far, he cheated six people under the guise of solving their problems through black magic, Officer on Special Duty (Task Force) P. Radha Kishan Rao said.
“He would go to the victims’ houses and makes them believe that he can solve their problems by performing certain rituals like consecration of deity at place of daily worship and then under the guise of performing pooja to solve their problem collect large amounts of cash and gold ornaments from the victims and flees,” he said.
The accused pledged some gold ornaments with KLM, Muthoott, IIFL gold finance companies. With the help of goldsmiths, Mr. Balaraju would get the yellow metal melted and and add other metals to increase the quantity and then pledge it with gold finance companies to make a quick buck.
Mr. Balaraju along with the seized material was handed over to Market police for further investigation.
