Just days before the holy Shravan month, Nashik rural police busted a major darshan pass black-marketing racket at the sacred Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple, arresting five individuals involved in fraudulently obtaining and reselling online passes at highly inflated prices.
The arrested individuals are Dilip Zhole, Sudam Badade, Samadhan Chauthe, Manohar Sheware, and Shivraj Aher — all locals from the Nashik district with previous connections to temple-adjacent pooja shops.
According to the police, the accused booked Rs200 online donation-based darshan passes from the Trimbakeshwar Devasthan Trust website using fake Aadhaar cards, names, and phone numbers. These passes were then resold to unsuspecting devotees for Rs800 to Rs1,000 each, mainly near the temple gates.
“Each day, they generated 200–300 passes using fraudulent credentials,” said PI Mahesh Kulkarni of Trimbakeshwar Police Station. “We’ve seized phones and digital evidence that show they coordinated the sales via WhatsApp using code names.”
The scam was exposed after multiple complaints were received from devotees and suspicious crowd patterns were observed. A targeted operation led to the arrests on Thursday, ahead of Shravan’s first Monday, when over 25,000 pilgrims are expected daily.
In response, the temple trust has tightened booking protocols, introducing mandatory Aadhaar verification for online passes.
Trimbakeshwar, one of India’s twelve Jyotirlingas, offers two types of darshan passes—free and paid (Rs200). Of the 5,000 paid daily passes, 2,000 are available online. The accused exploited this system for profit.
Authorities urge pilgrims to book only via the official temple website and report any suspicious ticket sellers. Investigations are ongoing.
