Holy men caught with 'robbed' Rs.1 crore in Uttarakhand

Exposing incidents of greed at the time of calamity, rescuers in Uttarakhand seized from a group of holy men cash and ornaments worth over Rs.1 crore, suspected to be robbed from ATMs and removed from dead bodies, an official said here Monday.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Inspector General Sandeep Rai Rathore told IANS: "The holy men refused to board a rescue helicopter without their heavy bags. During a check, the bags were found to be containing Rs.1.14 crore in cash along with jewellery worth lakhs of rupees."

The accused were handed over to Uttarakhand Police for investigation, he said.

"The suspects might have robbed an ATM or taken off jewellery from dead bodies," said Rathore.

The official refused to give details about the number of the arrested holy men but said Rs.1.14 crore in cash was recovered from some of the accused Saturday in Kedarnath.