Bengaluru woman loses Rs 6 lakh to Instagram astrologer who predicted a love marriage

The complainant said she had come across the accused who pretended to be an 'expert astrologer' on Instagram. (Image credit: AFP)

A 24-year-old woman from Bengaluru was duped of almost Rs 6 lakh by an alleged astrologer she had come across on Instagram. The accused had predicted a love marriage for the woman but had asked for money to perform a puja on her behalf to remove obstacles from her path. He had initially asked for Rs 1,820 but eventually managed to swindle Rs 5.9 lakh out of her before the woman decided to approach the police, the Times of India reported.

The complainant, Priya (name changed), is an Electronics City resident employed at a private firm. She told the police that on January 5, she had come across an account of an "expert astrologer" on Instagram who went by the username ‘splno1indianastrologer'. Priya sent a message to him enquiring whether hers would be a love or arranged marriage.

The astrologer, who identified himself as Vijay Kumar, asked for her name and date of birth to check her horoscope. Once he had the details, Kumar told Priya that she would have a love marriage but would face some obstacles. He added that for Rs 1,820, he could perform a puja on her behalf to remove the obstacles. Once the payment was made online, Kumar began to concoct stories about her problems in her future and began to fleece money on the pretext of conducting more pujas.

After a series of transactions which amounted to Rs 5.9 lakh, Priya realised that she was duped and refused to pay him any further. She also ordered him to return the money already paid to him. Kumar eventually returned around Rs 13,000, but warned Priya that he would kill himself and name her in his suicide note if she kept demanding more money.

A few days later, Priya got a call from a person named Prashant who introduced himself as an advocate. He told her that Kumar was ready to die by suicide as she was forcing him to return the money even after he had performed several pujas on her behalf. Priya then filed a complaint with the police.

An officer from the Electronics City police station said the fraud appears to be the work of cybercriminals, with no astrologer or advocate involved.