The Bengaluru city police on Tuesday said that they arrested a 49-year-old self-styled godman who used to cheat the public by luring them with the promise to find hidden treasure in their houses. The police said that the man, identified as Dada Peer, a native of Kolar district, has four cases against him, including two registered at the Hulimavu police station. Seemant Kumar Singh, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, said: "He used to deceive the public by claiming to perform rituals to remove black magic or to unearth hidden treasures. By gaining their trust, he would collect their gold ornaments under the pretext of performing rituals or puja, and then escape from the spot along with the ornaments. He confessed that he had committed a similar offence in Bhadravathi as well. Out of the stolen gold ornaments, half were kept at his residence in Kolar, while the remaining were pledged at jewellery shops located at Nagpur in Maharashtra and BTM Layout in Bengaluru. " The police have recovered 485.4 g of gold ornaments worth Rs 53 lakh. On October 10, he was sent to judicial custody by a court. Homework to identify targets According to the police, Dada Peer used to first do his homework to identify targets. He used to collect information and later approach the targets under the disguise of a godman. To gain their trust, he would talk about some past incidents related to their families and state that they needed to do some rituals for their well-being and prosperity. A police officer said, "Once the victims have allowed him to visit their houses multiple times, he would come up with a story that there was a hidden treasure under their house and that in order to locate the exact place, they needed to do rituals. He would fix a day and bring a box. He would ask them to put their gold ornaments in it and would do pooja inside the house, making the victims stand outside. At this point, he used to steal the gold by replacing it with stones in the box." Dada Peer then would ask them to do pooja for the next 45 or 48 days. He would visit the house frequently during the period, but would vanish after 40 days or so. No lavish lifestyle, no alcohol Asked where he would spend money, a police officer said that Dada Peer has three wives and 10 children. "Besides that, he has affairs with a couple of women in Karnataka. What we found is that he did not have a lavish lifestyle or did not have any habits like drinking. He spent money only on women," the officer said. He had never gone to school but claims that he had worked in a garage before getting into crime. The police said he had the ability to convince whoever he engaged in a conversation with. With his arrest, the police have solved four theft cases—two registered at the Hulimavu police station, one each at the Bhadravathi police station and the Ballari police station. How was he caught? Dada Peer is a habitual offender and was arrested multiple times in Karnataka, including in Bengaluru. In 2011, he was arrested by the Girinagar police as well. Some of his victims did not approach the police. In 2024, he was arrested by the Vinobha Nagar police in Shivamogga in two similar cases. However, he again became active after his release from prison. A police officer said, "He had come to Bengaluru, approaching a pawn broker to sell 60 g of gold without documents. We got the information and then caught him when he came to collect money. Upon doing a background check through Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems) and ICJS (Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (CCTNS), we found he was involved in crimes previously.” “When we questioned him about how he got 60 g of gold, he started to narrate his story. In HSR Layout, one case was registered, and we informed another victim, and later they filed the case,” the officer added. Dada Peer operates alone, and it is very hard to track and recover the gold ornaments even after his arrest, the police said, adding that he had pledged and even sold gold in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra as well.
