Uttarakhand: Self-styled godman illegally builds temple near sacred lake in Bageshwar, probe ordered
Dehradun (PTI): A self-styled godman has allegedly built an unauthorised temple in the Suderdhunga river valley close to a sacred lake originating from a glacier in Uttarakhand's Bageshwar district, angering locals who have accused him of desecrating the lake by bathing in it.
According to officials, Baba Chaitanya Akash alias Aditya Kailash managed to convince some locals to help him construct the temple in the eco-sensitive zone by telling them that he had received divine orders in a dream to build it.
The matter was referred to the police for an investigation after an application was received from the locals in this regard, Bageshwar District Magistrate Anuradha Pal told PTI on the phone on Tuesday.
The road to the spot where the temple has been built passes through difficult terrain and remains closed during monsoon, she said.
"The structure made of wood and stone is a small temple. It is illegal and built on no man's land," Superintendent of Police (SP) Akshay Prahlad Konde said.
It seems that some locals helped him build the structure after he told them that he had received divine orders to construct it in a dream. The self-styled godman has been living in the temple for the last 10-12 days and bathing in the sacred lake, Devi Kund, the SP said.
This has caused resentment among the residents of the nearby villages who feel it is an act of desecration.
"The locals revere the lake and bathe their deities in it once in a year," Konde said.
While the self-styled godman managed to convince some locals to help him, many others refused to be taken in by his theory and approached the administration demanding action against him, the SP said.
"The police are examining the matter from the law and order point of view but as the structure is located on no man's land in an eco-sensitive zone, the forest department will have to be involved for any action against the encroachment," Konde said.
He said the spot is hard to reach and it takes two-three days to reach it from Wancham and Jatoli -- the last two villages in the Sunderdhunga river valley.
Konde said the antecedents of the self-proclaimed baba are being looked into.
Sources said the baba keeps changing his name and appears to be a "man of dubious character".
"He sometimes calls himself Chaitanya Akash and sometimes Aditya Kailash. It is difficult to say which of the two names is his real name," a source told PTI.
He keeps meeting politicians also. It seems that he came to stay here after he was denied shelter in Dwarahat and Haridwar, another source said.
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Bank account in Ramgarh tracked for fraudulent fund transactions across 24 states, 4 arrested
Ramgarh (Jharkhand) (PTI): Jharkhand police on Thursday said it has unearthed a network of interstate cyber frauds and arrested four miscreants for fraudulent transactions through a bank account in Ramgarh district after complaints of 274 suspected transactions in 24 states.
The states where complaints for fraudulent transactions were registered included Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
The action followed inputs received through 'Samanvaya portal', a centralised, web-based platform launched by the Union Home Ministry to curb cybercrime.
"We arrested four cyber miscreants after a current account with Kuju (Ramgarh) branch of the State Bank of India was found to have registered suspected financial transactions in 24 states with the help of the Pratibimba portal of the Home Ministry through the Samanvaya portal," Ramgarh Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Lunayat said.
During the probe, police found that the account was opened under the MSME Udyam Registration scheme in the name of Shree Ganesh Enterprises, he said.
The account had been linked to as many as 274 complaints from different states related to cyber fraud and illegal fund transfers.
The registered proprietors of the enterprise were identified as Rahul Gupta (37), Ravi Kumar Verma (34), and Ajay Sharma (33), all residents of Ramgarh district, a statement from the Ramgarh police said.
During interrogation, Rahul Gupta and Ravi Kumar Verma revealed that they had opened multiple current accounts at the behest of Ritesh Agrawal alias Munna (40) and Sonu Kumar Jha (34).
They admitted receiving Rs 1.2 lakh in exchange for facilitating the opening of these accounts.
"The accused further confessed to sharing OTPs, activating mobile banking services, and handing over control of the accounts to the main operators through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. These accounts were then allegedly used to route fraudulent transactions.
Police said mobile data analysis of the accused led to the recovery of crucial digital evidence, including details of SIM cards, bank accounts, passbooks, ATM cards, QR code scanners, Aadhaar cards, and PAN cards shared through messaging platforms.
A total of four accused have been arrested so far and sent to judicial custody.
A case has been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Further investigation is underway, the police said.
