3 try to con UP villagers with idols bought online

Ashok Kumar and his sons, Ravi Kumar and Vijay Kumar, reportedly purchased the idols for ₹169 from a shopping website and buried them in their fields at Mahmood village in Asiwan near Unnao district.

Kanpur: Three farmers near Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district were arrested for allegedly attempting to con locals by “unearthing” idols from their field and pooling in money for a makeshift temple, police said on Thursday.

The accused were arrested under section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences) of CrPC

Ashok Kumar and his sons, Ravi Kumar and Vijay Kumar, reportedly purchased the idols for ₹169 from a shopping website and buried them in their fields at Mahmood village in Asiwan near Unnao district.

Subsequently, Ashok told local residents that goddess Saraswati told him in his dream to dig up a certain area in his field, Asiwan station house officer (SHO) Anirudh Singh said.

The accused claimed the idols were more than 500 years old, installed the idols at their home and informed about the same to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

As word about the idols spread, villagers began thronging the accused’s residence and even reportedly offered ₹70,000 for a make-shift temple, Singh said.

The family’s plans to continue cheating locals, however, failed after one Goreylal, who delivered the idols, approached police, the SHO said.

“Ashok and his sons wanted to cheat the villagers. The idols were seized and the villagers were explained about how they were fooled,” he added.

The accused were arrested under section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences) of CrPC, circle officer Pankaj Singh said.

Local residents, meanwhile, protested against the arrests after Ashok reportedly told them that the police did not want them to build the makeshift temple, people familiar with the matter said.