This story is from August 29, 2020

UP: Couple dupes 60 priests, gives fake notes after puja for ‘hidden treasure’

In another real life rerun of fraudsters Bunty Aur Babli, a group of 60 priests were duped by a couple after performing a relay 14-day puja for finding a hidden treasure in Sitapur.
UP: Couple dupes 60 priests, gives fake notes after puja for ‘hidden treasure’
Image used for representational purpose only
LUCKNOW: In another real life rerun of fraudsters Bunty Aur Babli, a group of 60 priests were duped by a couple after performing a relay 14-day puja for finding a hidden treasure in Sitapur.
The con couple Geeta Pathak and her husband Gulasi Ram Pathak were arrested in Sitapur on Friday.
IG Lucknow range, Laxmi Singh, who supervised the case, told TOI that priest Dilip Kumar Pathak of Bahraich had lodged a police complaint on August 27, saying that Geeta had invited him along with 60 priests to perform a marathon puja at her ashram, Geeta Niwas in Mathura village of Sitapur, for finding a hidden treasure on the ashram premises.

On the completion of the 14-day rituals on Thursday, Geeta Pathak gave the priests a sealed cotton bag which, she said, had money and requested them to open it later. When the priests opened the bag after leaving the premises they found that barring a few notes rest all were fake.
During investigation, police found that the couple had duped several priests and villagers in the same manner in Gonda and Kushinagar too. They would collect donations from villagers for perforing marathon rituals to find hidden treasures and then invite priests. After the end of marathon rituals, the couple would hand over fake notes to the seers in sealed bags, IG Singh said. Police said the couple along with three aides had been doing this fraud since 2013 from their ashram in Sitapur. The gang’s mastermind was Geeta, police said.

“Geeta’s husband and his aides would invite priests for puja and took donations for local villagers,” said SHO, Rampur Mathura, SK Mishra. IG Singh said the couple and their aides will be booked under the Gangster Act. “Teams have been formed to arrest their aides,” said Singh. Sitapur police said a probe will be done into the properties of the ashram owned by the couple.
After 14-day rituals, Geeta gave the priests a sealed cotton bag which, she said, had money and requested them to open it later.
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