Pune: A man posing as a devotee has been arrested for defrauding a temple in Nigdi by claiming to make an overpayment through NEFT and purchasing items worth over ₹25,000 from the temple trust’s shop.

The fraud came to light when the temple trust realized that no donation had been credited to their account.

Krishna Pillai Radhakrishnan (77), a resident of Sukhwani Campus, Pimpri, lodged a complaint at Nigdi Police Station regarding the incident.

The police initially registered the case against a person using the alias "Pratham Shah," but later identified him as Vinay Rajesh Lohire (40), a resident of Manjari.

The incident occurred on October 4, when the accused visited the Shri Krishna Temple in Nigdi Gaothan. He introduced himself as Pratham Shah and expressed his intention to donate ₹4 lakh to the temple.

He obtained the temple trust's bank account details and the complainant’s mobile number. Shortly thereafter, the complainant received a message stating that ₹4.30 lakh had been transferred to the temple's account via NEFT.

The accused claimed that an extra ₹30,000 had been mistakenly sent and proceeded to use this false information to purchase brass prayer items worth ₹25,779 from the temple’s shop. He then fled the scene.

When the temple trust later checked their bank account, they discovered that no such donation had been made. Upon this realization, they filed a police complaint.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Anand Salvi, who is leading the investigation, said that technical analysis led the police to identify the accused as Vinay Lohire, who has since been arrested.