Shamli, Uttar Pradesh, August 4, 2025 — A stunning case of deception has unfolded in Shamli’s Manti Hasanpur village, where police arrested 55-year-old Imamuddin Ansari for posing as a Hindu priest at a Shani temple. Known locally as Baba Bengali or Balaknath, Imamuddin had been performing rituals for at least two years, fooling villagers who trusted him as a holy man. The arrest came after a tip-off revealed his true identity, leading to the recovery of three Aadhar cards and a PAN card, raising suspicions of fraud.
The Thana Bhawan police acted on August 2 after receiving intelligence about Imamuddin’s false identity. During a nighttime raid on the temple, they found the West Bengal native living there under the guise of a Hindu sadhu. Investigations revealed he had crowdfunded money and taken land from the village head to build the temple, where he then resided. The discovery of multiple Aadhar cards with different details has sparked concerns about a possible larger network of identity fraud. Police have charged him with cheating, forgery, and hurting religious sentiments, and he was sent to judicial custody for 14 days after appearing in Kairana court.
