22-year-old girl cheated twice on FB, godman held

A 45-year-old self-proclaimed godman was arrested from Gujarat by the Malad police on Wednesday night for allegedly kidnapping a 22-year-old  girl after he befriended her on Facebook. The girl, a college student, had met the godman, Gopal Jagdishbai Patel alias Gopal Prabhu, hailing from UP on Facebook about two months back. The police said that she approached him as she was in trouble.

A police officer from Malad police station said, “The girl had an affair with a 24-year-old man, Akshay Maru. She had met the man also via Facebook. Maru claimed to be an  interior designer who worked with various film personalities.” He then narrated a sob story to the girl about his sudden financial difficulties and asked her for help and promised to return the money. 

“Without her parent’s knowledge, the girl took gold jewellery worth Rs12 lakh and gave it to Maru.  After a few days, when she asked Maru to return the jewellery, he refused. Maru started threatening her. Later, she couldn’t trace him,” said a police officer.

Following this, the girl was in a dilemma and met the godman, Patel, on Facebook around two months back. He claimed that he was the president of Iskcon Temple in Vrindavan, UP. “She confided in Patel. Patel promised to help her get back the money. She trusted him and they exchanged phone numbers. The two decided to meet in Mumbai.”

The girl went missing on September 27. The Malad police registered a case of kidnapping a few days ago. “His number was switched off. Later, we got a tip-off that the two were in Gujarat. Patel was brought to Mumbai and was arrested on charges of kidnapping,” added Chandrakant Gurav, inspector (crime), Malad police station.