Priests create fake website in temple’s name, swindle Rs 20 crores, devotees shocked

BENGALURU: A group of priests have allegedly created fake websites in a temple’s name and swindled crores of rupees from devotees. The police have taken cases against five priests namely Vallabh Dinakar Bhatt, Ankur Anandrao, Pratik Sadashiva, Gangadhar Srikant Bhatt and Sharat Bhatt. The incident took place in Devalaganapur Temple in Kalaburgi, Karnataka. Following the incident, the priests went into hiding. The police have intensified their probe to find them.

The police had registered a case against the priests on the complaint lodged by Shri Dattatreya Temple executive officer Namdev Rathod. Shri Dattatreya Temple in Gangapur is one of the most popular Hindu temples in Karnataka. Around ten thousands of devotees, from inside and outside of Karnataka, visit the temple, every year. The accused had created websites quite similar to the official temple websites.

They had created about eight websites with names such as Dattatreya Devalay, Ganagapur Dattatreya temple and Shri Kshethra Dattatreya temple.

On these fake sites, they had charged around Rs 10,000 – Rs 50,000 as fees for performing various poojas and other rituals. The had been continuing the fraud for the past four years. According to estimates, the priests have swindled about Rs 20 crores from the devotees, so far.