A father and his two sons in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao hatched a plan to trick people by unearthing “ancient idols of Ganesh-Lakshmi” from their fields but ended up in jail after a delivery boy approached the police with the receipt for the delivery of an idol.
According to the police, the incident took place in Mehmoodpur village under Aswain Police Station where Ashok Rairaj, a father, and his sons Ravi and Vijay, purchased idols of Hindu deities from an online company last week. They then began telling villagers that gods came to them in their dreams and told them where idols were buried in fields.
“As many in the village accepted their story, the father and sons decided to dig their fields and the idols were found, as planned. The villagers started worshipping them and the family insisted that they would build a temple at the spot,” Pankaj Kumar Singh, Circle Officer, Bangarmau area, told The Hindu.
The police had to maintain law and order as a huge crowd gathered to watch idols being unearthed on Monday.
“The family placed the idols on a red cloth and villagers started donating money as well. As many had also shared the pictures of the idols online, a person approached us to share the truth,” a police official investigating the matter said.
The man who foiled the plan was the delivery boy of the online company from which idols were ordered by the accused.
“He showed us the slips and even the pictures of the idols delivered and the two matched, with the same being worshipped by the people at the makeshift temple erected by the farmer’s family,” the official said.
Police arrested the three accused and charged them under Section 151 of the CrPC. They have secured bail from a magistrate. The police are still looking for someone from the village who will report the matter so that a First Information Report (FIR) can be filed.
Talking to The Hindu, Mr. Ravi, who is just 20 years old, accepted that he had made the plan and ordered the idols.
“I am a person with unsound mind. I just got this idea one day, and after approval from my father and brother, we did it. I wasn’t aware that this will become so big that we will have to face police action,” Mr. Ravi said. He who added that villagers had given donations worth ₹4,000 in two days, and reports of his having earned ₹35,000 from the scam were false.
“We are now fearful for our lives as villagers are threatening to beat us because we have played with their emotions,” he said.
