In Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, a story that reads like fiction has emerged, touching the hearts of many and bringing to light a tale of deceit that preyed upon the deepest emotions of a family. It's a narrative that began 22 years ago and found its way back into the lives of the Singh family under the most unusual circumstances.

In 2002, a young boy named Arun Singh, also known to some as Pintu or Pinku, became the center of a family's nightmare when he vanished from his home in Kharauli village. The disappearance of Ratipal Singh's 11-year-old son after an argument with his parents left a void that would remain unfilled for over two decades. The mystery of his whereabouts lingered, a constant source of sorrow and unanswered questions.

Fast forward to recent days, the village buzzed with the news of Arun's return. The media widely reported the incident, and a video capturing the emotional reunion of Arun with his family quickly spread across social media platforms. In it, a man, claiming to be the long-lost Arun, was seen dressed as an ascetic, his fingers strumming the strings of a sarangi, a traditional three-stringed musical instrument. As he sang melancholic tunes, he begged for alms from the woman he called 'mother.'

However, the joy and relief that flooded the Singh family were short-lived. The astonishing return of their son was soon revealed to be a meticulously crafted hoax. The man who stood before them, invoking tears and rekindling long-lost hopes, was not Arun but an imposter named Nafees. This revelation exposed the cruel reality that their son's return was nothing more than an elaborate scheme to defraud the family.

The saga of the Singh family took a heart-wrenching turn that began with a childhood dispute over something as innocent as marbles. In 2002, Ratipal Singh and Bhanumati's world was turned upside down when their 11-year-old son, known affectionately as Pinku, vanished from their Delhi home. The disagreement with his father and subsequent punishment by his mother led Pinku to make a decision that would irrevocably change the course of their lives. In a moment of anger and despair, he left, embarking on a journey that distanced him from those he called family.

Decades passed, and then, on the 27th of January, a man stepped into Amethi’s Kharauli village, claiming to be the boy who had disappeared 22 years earlier. This news quickly reached Ratipal and Bhanumati in Delhi, igniting a flicker of hope that perhaps their long-lost son had finally decided to return. With hearts heavy with anticipation, they made their way to the village, where they 'recognised' their son through a scar, a silent testimony to his identity and their shared past.

The reunion that followed was laden with emotion. However, the joy was ephemeral. The man, who presented himself as Arun Singh, declared that his visit was driven not by the longing to reunite with his family but by a religious obligation. He explained that as part of his transition to becoming a sanyasi, a Hindu ascetic, it was necessary for him to receive alms from his mother, a ritual that marked a step in his spiritual journey. This revelation cast a shadow over the reunion, introducing a complexity to their emotions that was difficult to navigate.

The man, who claimed to be their long-lost son Arun, shared that his education and spiritual journey at the Parasnath Math in Jharkhand led him to Ayodhya, and subsequently, back to his native village on the instructions of his guru. According to him, seeking alms from his family was a crucial step towards completing his initiation as a sanyasi. This revelation brought a new dimension to the family's understanding of his return, intertwining their emotional reunion with religious obligations that were unfamiliar and daunting.

Amidst the bittersweet emotions of their reunion, the family's desire for him to abandon his ascetic life and remain with them surfaced. Initially, 'Arun' resisted, but later, a conversation with his monastery revealed a daunting obstacle. He informed the family that severing ties with his monastic life required him to pay a substantial sum of Rs 11 lakh. This amount was ostensibly to cover the costs of feeding 3000 saints and providing them with gifts, including clothes, with the expense for each saint calculated at approximately Rs 350.

Faced with this exorbitant demand, the emotional and financial strain on the family intensified. Pinku's father's words, “I do not have Rs 11 in my pocket, how can I pay Rs 11 lakh?” poignantly expressed the depth of their despair and the impossibility of meeting such demands given their financial situation. Despite the heartache and the impracticality of the request, the family's determination to reunite with their son led them to negotiate the amount to Rs 3 lakh 60 thousand, a sum still beyond their means. In a desperate bid to fulfill this requirement, they sold 14 biswa of their land.

The emotional and financial toll on Ratipal Singh's family reached its peak in the days following their desperate attempts to reconnect with their son. On February 1, in a profound display of faith and hope, the family, along with the villagers, gathered 13 quintals of food grains as alms for the man claiming to be Arun. This act was believed to be the final step in allowing him to leave his religious institution and return to his family. With the intention of maintaining communication, Ratipal also purchased a mobile phone for him. The collected material was then loaded onto a pickup truck and sent to Ayodhya, accompanied by Faujdar Singh’s nephew from Bani village, all in the name of facilitating 'Arun's' departure from the monastery.

However, skepticism regarding the legitimacy of 'Arun's' claims began to surface among the villagers. Doubts were raised about the authenticity of a monastery demanding a payment of Rs 11 lakh for a disciple to renounce his monastic life. While the ritual of visiting one's home to collect alms as part of an initiation process was familiar to some, the stipulation of feeding 3000 saints as a prerequisite for leaving the monastic life was unheard of and raised suspicions.

Acting on these doubts, Ratipal Singh, accompanied by several villagers, embarked on a journey to Ayodhya on Friday to verify the claims made by the man they believed to be Arun. Upon arriving at the address provided by the truck driver, they were confronted with the harrowing truth that their goodwill, faith, and resources had been exploited in an elaborate scam. The location was barren, devoid of any signs of 'Arun' or the monastery he claimed to be part of. This revelation shattered any remaining hopes and confirmed the family's worst fears — they had been deceived.

As the layers of deceit began to unravel, the truth about the man who had so convincingly played the role of Arun Singh, alias Pintu, came to light. This individual was in fact a professional imposter by the name of Nafees, hailing from Tikariya village in the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh. This revelation was not just a shock but a blow to the Singh family, who had poured their hope, trust, and resources into the belief that their long-lost son had returned.

Further investigation into Nafees's background revealed a disturbing reality. The Parasnath Math in Jharkhand, where he claimed to have taken his education and been instructed to return to his village to complete his initiation, did not exist. This fabrication was just one of many in a web of lies spun by Nafees.

A report by Jagaran shed light on a more alarming aspect of this ordeal. It was found that several families in Takariya village, including that of Nafees, were infamous for engaging in similar fraudulent activities. This village had a notorious reputation for its residents impersonating sadhus to deceive people, a deceit that often led to legal consequences, with many from the village ending up in jail for their crimes.

Nafees, it was revealed, led a seemingly ordinary life outside of his schemes, married to a woman named Poonam and father to a son named Ayan. Yet, beneath this facade, he harbored the cunning and malice to orchestrate a scam that preyed on the vulnerabilities of a family in search of their missing child.

The scam came to fruition after Nafees's prior visit to the village, where he gathered information about the missing boy, Arun, from unsuspecting villagers. Armed with this knowledge, he meticulously crafted his plan and re-entered the village on January 22, claiming ties to the very land and people he intended to defraud.

The emotional and financial devastation left in the wake of this revelation was immense. The Singh family, who had navigated the complex terrain of hope and despair for 22 years, found themselves victims of a cruel hoax that exploited their deepest yearnings for reunion and closure.

Nafees's Relatives Also Involved in Defrauding People by Posing to be “missing-son-turned-Yogi”

The web of deceit spun by Nafees, involving the impersonation of a missing son now returned as a yogi, extends beyond his solitary actions, implicating his family in a series of similar frauds. Among Nafees's four brothers, Rashid emerges as another key figure in these fraudulent activities.

In a scenario that painfully echoes the anguish experienced by the Singh family, Rashid targeted the Vishwakarma family in Sahaspura Parsodha, Mirzapur. On July 29, 2021, under the guise of Ravi alias Annu—who had been missing for 14 years—Rashid approached Annu's mother. He professed to be her lost son, now an ascetic, and requested alms under the pretext that it was essential for his sannyasa, or renunciation, to be successful.

The Vishwakarma family, swept up in a mix of hope and emotion, welcomed Rashid into their home, only to be betrayed. Rashid vanished after a few days, absconding with lakhs of rupees, a significant amount of money for the family. The police's subsequent arrest of Rashid not only exposed his fraud but also highlighted a disturbing pattern of exploitation within Nafees's family.

The deceptive practices surrounding Nafees and his extended family further unravel, revealing a tangled web of deceit that spans across different families and regions. According to a report by Jagran, an intriguing detail comes to light involving Nafees' father-in-law, Mukesh, who, despite having a Hindu-sounding name, is identified as Muslim. This detail adds another layer of complexity to the ongoing narrative of fraud perpetrated under the guise of religious or spiritual reconnection.

The fraudulent activities extend to Mukesh’s brother, who committed a similar deceit in Varanasi. On July 14, 2021, he approached the household of Kallu Rajbhar in Hajipur village, under the jurisdiction of the Cholapur police station in Varanasi. Masquerading as Rajbhar's missing son, Sunil, he arrived at their doorstep, adopting the persona of a sanyasi seeking alms. By calling Kallu's wife 'mother' and asking for alms, he followed a tradition that is purportedly symbolic of a yogi's transition into monastic life. This act of deceit was later exposed when the supposed sadhu, 'Sunil,' was identified as Mukesh's brother from Tikariya village in Gonda, further entangling Nafees's family in a series of fraudulent acts exploiting the emotional vulnerabilities of families.

In response to the escalating situation and the pattern of exploitation emerging, Superintendent of Police Dr. Ilamaran G. has taken proactive measures. The SHO Jais has been instructed to maintain vigilance over this case, ensuring the safety and security of the community from such fraudulent activities. The police are maintaining constant contact with the affected families, investigating the matter thoroughly. Additionally, the administration has issued advisories urging the public to exercise caution when encountering unknown individuals posing as sadhus, aiming to prevent further instances of fraud.

This culmination of events paints a grim picture of manipulation and deceit, targeting families in their most vulnerable moments. The emotional trauma inflicted upon these families, who were led to believe in the miraculous return of their missing loved ones, only to discover they were victims of a calculated scam, is profound. The community's sense of trust has been shaken, leaving a lingering impact that extends beyond the immediate victims to touch on the broader issues of trust, safety, and the exploitation of faith and hope.