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| Y Prabhakar Sharma became a crorepati from cheating his fellow Brahmins (Image: YouTube screen grab) |
Staff Correspondent, August 13, 2015, NewsCrunch
A Hyderabad-based realtor Y. Prabhakar Sharma was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly cheating nearly a thousand Brahmins.
Deccan Chronicle reports that Prabhakar Sharma promised an exclusive, Brahmin-only township - Veda Gayatri Agraharam- in Chegur village of Kothur Mandal in Telangana.
Veda Gayatri Agaraharam claimed to provide everything a traditional Brahmin might value - Goshalas, Veda Pathashala and Kalyana Mantapam, in addition to all modern amenities like corporate hospitals and solar powered street lights.
Aggressive TV and print ad campaigns, a gaudy website, videos on social media, a Facebook page which was last updated in October 2012, pooja performance at the future township, were all part of his arsenal as he set out to connect with his future victims.
He also reportedly purchased a 36 acre-plot in Yenkammaguda Chegur in 2011. Without getting any legal approval, he allegedly registered the plots in the names of the customers by taking advances and EMIs.
He then allegedly started cheating by selling the same plot to several people and when he failed to deliver the plots, the customers complained to the police, reports The Indian Express.
By the time his victims realized the fraud, Prabhakar Sharma had become a crorepati.
A similar Brahmins only housing project near Bangalore had run into trouble two years ago after many had opposed it for encouraging casteism.