Three persons who allegedly stole Rs 1.33 crore from a city-based businessman by promising to double it by performing a 'Lakshmi pooja' were arrested today, police said.
The officers of the Commissioner's Task Force (West Zone) Team arrested the main accused Buddappagari Shiva, an electrician and a native of Chittoor district, and his accomplices E Damodar and G Srinivas from Bengaluru.
They also recovered the stolen money, Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahendar Reddy said here.
According to the complainant G Sandesh Reddy, a godman ("swamiji") named Shiva came to his house on June 15 and told his father that he would double their money through a 'Lakshmi pooja'.
He 'doubled' Rs 1.5 lakh that family gave him by a sleight of hand. Believing him, Reddy's father then placed Rs 1.33 crore before an image of goddess Durga in the house.
But it did not double. The accused told the family that if they perform the pooja at a temple, it would surely multiply.
Shiva and Sandesh went to a temple with Rs 1.33 crore and performed a pooja there. Then Shiva took Sandesh to a hotel to 'perform meditation' which he said was a part of the ritual. He made Sandesh remove all metal things including car keys.
While Sandesh was in the middle of 'meditation', Shiva left the hotel room and took the cash from Sandesh's car. Then he asked Sandesh to go home and said he would follow.
On reaching home Sandesh realised that the cash was missing and he had been cheated.
Shiva had been earlier arrested for thefts, the commissioner added.
