Extortion racket from gate to Nandi Hall in Mahakal temple: Collection of Rs 1-10 thousand for Bhasma Aarti; VIP treatment by taking money; 8 arrested – Madhya Pradesh News

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Even during the day, they used to take money from the devotees for darshan and give VIP treatment. The entire matter is under investigation for the last 10 days. Earlier a case was registered against 8 people. Then after interrogation, a case has been registered against 5 other people associated with the temple management. The police are also talking about arresting them soon.

How long was this racket active and why did the administration not come to know about it till now? Read this to know Ground report…

Five days ago, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Army Chief Upendra Dwivedi worshiped at the Mahakal temple.

When we reached the Mahakal temple complex in Ujjain on Friday, there was only one thing discussed that what kind of loot the miscreants had committed in the court of Mahakal. This discussion was not among the people who had come from outside for darshan. He was returning after having darshan as usual. This was the discussion among the local residents of Ujjain and those setting up small and big shops around the temple premises.

The biggest reason behind this is that the racket of extortion in the name of Bhasma Aarti in Mahakal temple has been exposed. The surprising thing is that the officials of the temple committee which was responsible for making the arrangements were running this extortion racket. They used to provide facilities even for general darshan by charging money, but the major earning was from Bhasma Aarti only.

First understand the protocol of the temple Devotees from all over the country and the world come to Mahakal Temple for darshan, hence there is a huge crowd here. Protocols have been made to manage this crowd and the arrangements here. Two types of protocols follow in the temple. One is the protocol of the temple committee inside the temple and the other is outside i.e. the protocol of the police. The recent case is related to the scam in the internal protocol of the temple committee.

Now know how the collection was done through setting Protocol hospitality officer Abhishek Bhargava has been posted in the temple since 2010. External protocol i.e. police, administration, leaders and some NGOs had the power to give permission for Bhasma Aarti darshan through protocol. He also had the power to increase or decrease the quota. There is never a quota incident. He often increased the quota.

Rajkumar Singh, in-charge of the IT department of the temple, was the senior most official of the online booking process. Posted in the temple since 2006. It was in their hands to increase or decrease online booking. They used to charge the passengers an amount of Rs 1 to 10 thousand and immediately provide them VIP Bhasma Aarti Darshan tickets worth Rs 250.

Bhasma Aarti in-charge Ritesh Sharma has been in the temple management since 2007. The responsibility of the entire Bhasma Aarti was on him. The final decision as to who should go inside and who should not go was theirs. At one of his signals anyone could reach Nandi Hall and anyone could be thrown out.

Already a large number of devotees have been coming here, but after the construction of the corridor, more devotees are coming here.

The responsibility of bringing clients is on these people Apart from the three kingpins, there are five other people who were in direct contact with the visitors. The responsibility of bringing clients was on him. These included sanitation inspector Vinod Choukse, darshan in-charge Rakesh Srivastava and Rajendra Singh Sisodia, guards Om Prakash Mali and Jitendra Singh Panwar.

Two companies work in the temple. The first KSS which looks after the cleaning of the temple and computer operation. The second crystal which looks after the security. Two employees of this company are also among the accused.

2 more big names associated with the committee came forward The name of Nandi Hall in-charge Umesh Pandya has also surfaced. Devotees who visit Bhasma Aarti sit in Nandi Hall only. Umesh Pandya was completely responsible for who could enter that hall and who could not. He took full advantage of this power.

General Permission Officer Kashi Sharma is also accused. With their permission, anyone could enter Nandi Hall for Bhasma Aarti without any hindrance.

8 arrested, case against 5 others also The police have so far arrested Abhishek Bhargava, Rajkumar Singh, Ritesh Sharma, Vinod Chowksey, Rakesh Srivastava, Rajendra Singh Sisodia, Om Prakash Mali and Jitendra Singh Panwar. Ritesh Sharma has been sent to jail. After two days of interrogation, the police have also registered a case against 5 other people.

It includes two temple management officials, a supervisor of a security company and two local YouTubers, who call themselves journalists. Pankaj Sharma and Vijendra Yadav are YouTubers. Karan Singh Panwar is the supervisor of Crystal Security Company. This company looks after the security of the temple.

Demand for investigation of property is also being raised Local shopkeepers claimed that if the properties of all the people against whom cases have been registered in this entire operation are investigated, property worth crores will be unearthed. Many people associated with the arrested committee have luxurious houses. He has expensive luxury cars like Fortuner and Audi. Apart from this, if the matter is investigated deeply, even bigger names may come to light.

Mahakaleshwar is the only Jyotirlinga where this level of rigging is taking place for darshan. The government should take concrete action on this. Many people in Ujjain also said that this rigging can never stop here. People from bottom to top are involved in this.

Many hotels offer online packages to people. In that package, they offer everything from accommodation to Bhasma Aarti darshan. These packages range from Rs 15 to Rs 30 thousand per person. The people who have been caught have contacts with many hoteliers in Ujjain.

The police of Mahakal police station is investigating the matter.

SP said – Disclosure from devotees of UP-Gujarat Ujjain SP Pradeep Sharma said that first of all we had received a complaint from some visitors from UP and Gujarat that Bhasma Aarti darshan was being conducted by some people in the temple by taking money in an unauthorized manner. He had darshan for Rs 1100 each. The priest representatives and the temple staff escorted him to Nandi Hall. After getting the information, we started the investigation.

Racket people used to capture customers from outside. These people had been doing this for many years, so they had developed many relationships. Also, some people of this racket used to capture customers from outside. A receipt of Rs 250 is issued for darshan, but the accused did not do even this and stopped people from entering. For some, even after issuing tickets worth Rs 250, the money was not deposited in the government treasury.

He had made a kind of chain. This sequence was going on for a long time. We are interrogating the arrested people. Details of their digital payment apps are being extracted. 5 other accused have been made. He will also be arrested soon. These employees were associated with the temple committee for the last many years. He had contacts with many people. Took advantage of this.

Through registration and records, we are also getting information about the assets of all the accused. If anything wrong is found then we have also talked to ED about it. Action will be taken through them also. More names may be revealed in future. TI Narendra Singh said that these people used to collect up to Rs 10,000 from people. Hotel owners, auto operators and tour and travels people will be involved in further action.

used to take advantage of protocol for darshan A receipt of Rs 250 is made for darshan. For this, there are long queues and many procedures. Many people don’t want to do this. Also online advance booking is done for 1 to 3 months. Those running the rigging racket used to take advantage of this. He used to take more money from people and make them perform Bhasma Aarti. Even in routine darshan, he used to give VIP treatment by charging money.

There are 1800 seats for Bhasma Aarti. Every day 300 bookings are made offline and 400 online. The remaining 1100 seats are for protocol people. Those running the rigging racket mostly used these seats for illegal entry.

Permission to perform Bhasma Aarti by blocking ID Investigation has revealed that the temple staff used to play a big game in providing illegal darshan as well as permission for Bhasma Aarti. In the greed of earning money, the employees of the IT branch used to get permission for Bhasma Aarti from the temple ID even after the time was over. At the same time, they used to block the ID of ADM.

Sources revealed that Mahakal Temple IT branch head Rajkumar Singh and hospitality officer Abhishek Bhargava several times got the permission for Bhasma Aarti made from the temple ID even after 7 pm. Whereas the temple ID was blocked after 7 pm. Read the full news…