Lucknow: Mere desh ki dharti sona ugle, ugle heera moti — a farmer in Etah district probably took this song a bit too seriously and landed up in jail.
Tired of diminishing returns in agriculture, the farmer, Surendra, hit upon an idea to mint money exploiting the religious sentiments of locals.
He buried a brass idol of Hanuman, weighing over 70 kg, six feet deep in his field in Kesarpur village.
Two days ago, 45-year-old farmer hired some labourers and asked them to dig a portion of his field. He told people that he would build a grocery shop there.
One of the labourers, while digging, hit the metal idol and as they brought out the Hanuman statue, an air of excitement became palpable.
Surendra told the villagers that the idol was a “gift of the gods” and a miracle and he would build a temple for the idol.
The news spread like wildfire in neighbouring villages of Jamalpur and Pinjari and hundreds of village came rushing to see the idol. Incense sticks, sweets, coconut and money were offered to the idol and donations for the temple added up to Rs 75,000 in one day.
However, on Wednesday, a clash broke out between the residents of Kesarpur and Pinjari villagers when both demanded that the temple be built in their villages.
The police was called in to control the clashes and investigations revealed the truth. Circle officer Ajay Bhadauria of Aliganj police station said that during the investigations, the police found that Surendra had purchased the idol from Aligarh five months ago. “When questioned, he could not say where the idol had gone. When we interrogated him further, he accepted the fact that he wanted to earn money by building the temple. He also said that he planned to become a god man,” the police official said.
Surendra has been arrested and charged with cheating and hurting religious sentiments.
