A 47-year-old man, Poornaprakash, was arrested on Sunday for allegedly duping a couple by performing a fake ritual and stealing gold jewellery worth nearly Rs5 lakh under the guise of removing negative energy.
The complainant, S B R Ramesh (56), a Mandaveli-based construction businessman, was introduced to Poornaprakash last year through a friend. Claiming to be associated with the HR&CE department, Poornaprakash offered to conduct a ritual to ward off alleged black magic affecting Ramesh’s business partner.
On August 18, he visited Ramesh’s home and conducted a ritual, during which he claimed the family was in grave danger unless a parihara pooja was performed. Alarmed, Ramesh’s wife handed over 76 grams of gold jewellery and a family photograph to Poornaprakash for the ceremony.
However, he failed to return the valuables and allegedly threatened Ramesh when asked, claiming he would curse them with black magic, ruin his business, or have him killed through his followers.
Based on a complaint filed at the Abhiramapuram police station, Poornaprakash was arrested. During interrogation, police discovered that he worked as a temple priest in Perambur, and the stolen jewellery was recovered from him.
