A 24-year-old woman from Bengaluru was tricked out of ₹5.9 lakh by a man pretending to be an astrologer. He promised to help remove “obstacles” in her love marriage. The man, who called himself Vijay Kumar, told the woman that she would soon have a love marriage but needed to perform certain rituals to avoid problems, as her horoscope showed astrological issues. To carry out these rituals, he asked for money.
The woman, who lives in Electronics City and works at a private company, came across an Instagram account in January claiming to be an astrologer. After learning her name and birthdate, the so-called astrologer created a birth chart and told her she would soon have a love marriage. He charged her ₹1,820 for a puja, which she paid.
After the first payment, Kumar made up more stories about issues in her future marriage and convinced her to pay for additional pujas. Over time, she paid him nearly ₹6 lakh. When he asked for even more money, she grew suspicious and refused. She asked him to return the money she had already paid.
Kumar refunded ₹13,000 but threatened to end his life and blame her in a suicide note if she kept asking for the rest of the money. A few days later, another man named Prashant called her, claiming to be an advocate. He told her Kumar was about to commit suicide, saying it was her fault for demanding the refund, even though Kumar had performed multiple rituals for her.
Worried, the woman went to the police. A senior officer confirmed that the whole situation seemed like a scam run by cybercriminals, with no real astrologer or advocate involved. The Electronics City police have filed a case under the Information Technology Act and Section 318 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
