Priests Create Fake Websites Of Karnataka Temple, Pocket Nearly Rs 20 Crore In Donations

Police in Karnataka¡¯s Kalaburagi district has booked five archaks (priests) of the Devalaganagapur temple for allegedly swindling off crores of Rupees donated by devotees using fake websites.

The five priests, Vallabh Dinakar Bhatt, Ankur Anandrao, Pratik Sadashiva, Gangadhar Srikant Bhatt and Sharat Bhatt have not been arrested yet.

Devalaganagapur temple

They were booked by the police on a complaint filed by Namadev, Executive Officer of the Sri Dattatreya Temple in Ganagapur.

The temple dedicated to Sri Dattatreya is one of the most famous Hindu shrines in the district and attracts devotees from within and outside Karnataka.

Fake websites to collect donations

According to the complaint, the priests had created several fake websites sounding and appearing similar to the official one -devalganagapur.com.

The fake websites went by the name like Dattatreya devalay, Ganagapur Dattatreya temple, Shri Kshethra Dattatreya temple, and many more.

BCCL/ Representational Image

The priests targeted devotees coming from Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and other districts of Karnataka to offer prayers there.

In addition to the Rs 1,000 which is the official fee collected at the temple to offer prayers, the priests made the unsuspecting devotees to donate amounts ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 through the fake websites.

More than Rs 20 crore stolen by priests

It is estimated that the fraud had been going on for at least four-five years and the five priests may have collected well over Rs 20 crores in donations from the devotees.

Some 2,000 devotees are said to have been duped by the priests.

Devalaganagapur temple

The Devalaganagapur temple is administered by the Muzurai department (Hindu Religious Endowment) and Kalaburagi deputy commissioner Yashwant Gurukar is the chairman of its development committee.

The fraud came to light during an audit, which also found that the priests were stealing money from the temple donation box.

After the FIR was registered, the five priests reportedly fled the village and are untraceable.

Bank manager arrested for diverting money from depositor's account

Earlier this week an Indian Bank branch manager in Bengaluru was arrested by police for diverting Rs 5.7 crore from a depositor's account to his online girlfriend.

The accused, identified as Hari Shankar, who was working as the manager of Indian Bank¡¯s Hanumanthnagar branch was caught during an n internal audit of a transfer of Rs 5.7 crore from a depositor's account.

Shankar admitted to his crime and told the police that he was duped by cybercriminals who pretended to be a girl and that he had connected with her only through a dating app.

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