Bengaluru: Police have arrested another key accused in a major fraud case where unsuspecting citizens were cheated in the name of ayurveda medicines for sexual and other health problems. Jnanabharathi police detained Manoj Singh of Gujarat, days after arresting the fake guru Vijay Chittodiya, who had been posing as an ayurveda healer.
Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh told reporters that officers seized seventeen varieties of ayurveda medicines, a tempo traveller vehicle and cash worth rupees nineteen lakh fifty thousand from the accused. The racket came to light after software engineer Tejas was cheated of rupees forty eight lakh on the promise of a quick cure for sexual problems.
A case had been registered earlier against fake guru Vijay Chittodiya and his associate Manoj Singh at the Jnanabharathi police station. After the complaint, both accused went absconding. A special team was formed to trace them. Vijay was arrested in Telangana’s Mahbubnagar while Manoj Singh was tracked down and arrested in Cyberabad.
Police investigations also revealed that the owner of an ayurvedic shop in Yeshwanthpur had actively supported the fraud. Both accused have been produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody, later being sent to the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison.
According to police, the accused were living a lavish lifestyle with the money collected through the fraud. They had set up eight temporary tent clinics across Bengaluru, Tumakuru and other places, claiming to offer ayurveda remedies. Citizens were lured into buying fake medicines at exorbitant prices on the assurance of quick and guaranteed cures.
The case originated when Tejas, who was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Kengeri, noticed a tent clinic on the roadside offering treatment for sexual problems. A person there introduced him to fake guru Vijay, who later directed Tejas to purchase a so called special medicine named Devaraj Booti from an ayurveda store in Yeshwanthpur.
The fake guru insisted that the medicine cost rupees one lakh sixty thousand per gram, was sourced from Haridwar, and had to be bought in cash without anyone accompanying him.
Tejas purchased Devaraj Booti and Bhavana Booti oil several times, spending huge sums. When no improvement occurred, the fake guru frightened him by claiming that his life would be in danger without further treatment, thereby attempting to extract more money. Realising the fraud, Tejas filed a police complaint.
Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh cautioned the public to seek treatment only from authorised hospitals and avoid unverified tent clinics. He warned that such fraudulent healers pose a serious threat to public safety and assured strict action against anyone conducting illegal medical practices.
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