Varanasi: Posing as a priest, a man allegedly extorted Rs 4,000 from a devotee with the promise of facilitating darshan at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple here.
Local police intervened, and a video of the incident has since been circulating on social media. Reports say the devotee complained after being charged for darshan by the self-styled priest.
In the video, police personnel can be heard saying, “Sari duniya free mein darshan kar rahi hai, tum bahar ke aadami se Rs 4,000 le liye (The whole world gets a free darshan, and you are charging outsiders Rs 4,000.”
The accused subsequently refunded the entire amount in the presence of police.
The officer can then be seen telling the devotee from Mysuru, in Karnataka, that he would facilitate her darshan.
Last year, scores of individuals posing as priests at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple were arrested for allegedly extorting money from devotees under the pretext of facilitating temple rituals.
Similar incidents have been reported from other temple cities, such as Ujjain, where devotees keen for a darshan have been fleeced by crooks.
