Guna: Police have arrested a fake baba popularly known as 'YouTube Baba' for allegedly carrying out over Rs 5 crore fraud in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, officials said. The accused identified as Yogesh Mehta is a resident of Badnagar in Ujjain district. The accused was arrested following a police complaint by one Pooja Parihar, a resident of Mrigwas in Guna district.
In her complaint, Pooja said that Mehta duped her of Rs 5.50 lakh in the name of mutual fund. Pooja said that she came across Mehta on YouTube. She said she transferred Rs 5.50 lakh to Mehta online, but he neither gave the receipt nor the policy for investment in mutual funds. Pooja kept asking for receipt and policy of mutual fund for one year, but to no avail, she said.
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A year later, the victim lodged an FIR against Mehta at Mrigwas police station on 23 June. During the subsequent police probe, it came to light that Mehta is a serial offender and had defrauded several people in a similar manner, a police official said. He said that accused Mehta has committed fraud of Rs 5.50 crore in Ujjain, Ratlam, Mandsaur and many other cities.
Police said that Mehta managed to dodge the police owing to political connections. Police said that out of three mobile numbers used by Mehta popularly known as YouTube Baba among his followers, one number was seen operational from Uttar Pradesh to Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh. Accused Mehta was staying in a hotel in Bhopal, where he was cheating people in the name of tantra mantra.
During interrogation, Mehta said that he has set up a YouTube channel where he cheats people by becoming a self-proclaimed priest. Police have launched an investigation into the matter.
