"Buridi Baba" Sivananda, who allegedly
cheated and robbed Lifestyle owner Madhusudan Reddy of Rs 1.33 crore on the pretext of performing a puja to multiply his wealth ten times, was produced before a court on Saturday and remanded to judicial custody till June 28.
It may be mentioned here that the fake godman had performed a "money-multiplying" puja in Reddy's house in Banjara Hills' MLA colony and fled with the Rs 1.33 crore in cash that was kept before the idols being worshipped. After the news spread like wild fire, the city police succeeded in nabbing the cheat and his two accomplices within 24 hours and recovered cash of Rs 1,19,50,000 from them.
Police said that the principal accused Boddappagari Siva alias Sivananda Baba belonging to Vandugampalli village under the Kuppam mandal of the Chittoor district had been cheating and robbing gullible people in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka for some years. He reportedly established contact with Madhusudan Reddy through one Mohan Reddy of Kompally about one-and-a-half years back. Persuading Madhusudan Reddy that he could multiply the latter's money through pujas, he entered his house for the rituals and fled with Rs 1.33 crore.