Numerologist held for molesting, duping woman

www.mangaloretoday.com

Bengaluru, Dec 18, 2016: A city-based numerologist has been arrested for allegedly molesting and cheating a woman who had signed up for the lessons offered by him.

Varadaraj aka Aryavardhan belongs to Hassan and is a resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar, off Mysuru Road. He was picked up from his hideout near Puducherry in Tamil Nadu late on Friday night and brought to Bengaluru on Saturday morning.


The woman, who’s from Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, told police she came across a newspaper advertisement titled ’learn numerology in five days’ and came to Bengaluru in the first week of August. The ad promised a cash refund if the individual was not satisfied with the course. "The fee for the five-day course was Rs 24,000. But Varadaraj said he would teach me something extra and charged me Rs 1.5 lakh," the woman said in her complaint.

After three days, she realized Varadaraj wasn’t teaching her anything new. "I was upset and felt cheated. So I confronted Varadaraj but he refused to give back the money I had paid him," she told police.

Not one to take things lying down, the woman visited Varadaraj at his RR Nagar residence and demanded the money. "A heated argument ensued between the duo. "Varadaraj harassed me sexually and threatened me with dire consequences if I approached police," she said.


Before he was bitten by the numerology bug, Varadaraj was auto driver who later worked as a cashier at bakeries. He was earlier questioned by police over his alleged link with the cricket betting mafia. He later shifted to Bengaluru and began practising numerology. His gained fame when he started appearing in morning shows on vernacular TV channels to predict people’s fortunes, police said.