Jamsawali Hanuman temple: On Sunday morning, three men arrived at a residential apartment in Beltarodi and knocked on a door. They were well-prepared — carrying receipt books, speaking confidently about a famous local temple, and presenting themselves as authorised representatives of the Jamsawali Hanuman Temple trust. Their pitch was polished: they were collecting donations and subscriptions for the temple’s Mahaprasad and other religious activities, they said, and would the resident like to contribute?
It was a scene that had probably played out dozens of times before at other homes across Nagpur — and in most of those cases, the devout homeowner had likely reached for their wallet without a second thought. People do not typically question someone collecting in the name of a well-known and respected temple. The appeal to religious faith and community generosity is one of the most effective tools available to a fraudster operating in an Indian city.
But this time, the man who answered the door was Rajendra Kisanrao Sangam, 50, a civil contractor with a practised eye for things that do not add up. He asked questions. The answers did not satisfy him. And instead of paying and closing the door, he picked up his phone and called Beltarodi Police Station.
That one phone call ended the operation of a fake donation racket that police now believe may have collected lakhs of rupees from unsuspecting Nagpur citizens by fraudulently using the name of the Jamsawali Hanuman Temple.
All allegations in this article are as per the FIR registered at Beltarodi Police Station. All accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.
What Happened at Safalya Apartment — The Arrest in Detail
The incident took place at approximately 9:00 AM on Sunday morning at Safalya Apartment, Beltarodi — a residential complex in the western outskirts of Nagpur. The three accused had identified Rajendra Sangam as a potential target and arrived at his residence claiming to represent the Jamsawali temple trust.
The Jamsawali Hanuman Temple is one of the well-known religious sites in the Nagpur region — a temple with a significant devotee following and a reputation that lends credibility to anyone claiming to act on its behalf. Using the temple’s name was a deliberate choice, almost certainly based on the calculation that devotees would not question a request for donations made in its name.
Sangam, however, did question them. His suspicions aroused by inconsistencies in their answers — or simply by instinct honed through years of professional life dealing with contractors and suppliers who sometimes misrepresent themselves — he immediately contacted Beltarodi Police Station in-charge Ritesh Aher.
The response was swift. Officers reached Safalya Apartment quickly and detained all three suspects before they could leave the premises. Receipt books found in their possession were seized on the spot — critical physical evidence that would prove central to establishing the scale and nature of the fraud.
Police then made a decisive investigative move: they directly contacted the Secretary of the Jamsawali Temple Trust and asked a simple question. Were any of these three individuals authorised or appointed by the trust to collect donations or subscriptions on its behalf?
The answer was unambiguous. None of them had any connection to the temple trust whatsoever. They had no authorisation, no appointment, and no legitimate role in any collection activity conducted on behalf of the Jamsawali Hanuman Temple.
With the temple trust’s confirmation establishing that the collection activity was entirely fraudulent, the three accused were formally arrested and a case was registered against them.
Who Are the Three Accused?
The arrested men come from different parts of the Nagpur district and surrounding taluka areas — suggesting a recruitment or association pattern that extends beyond any single neighbourhood.
Krishna Senaji Walke, 35, is a resident of Mohpa in Kalmeshwar taluka — a town located approximately 30 kilometres north of Nagpur city. At 35, he is the oldest of the three and, based on his age and the apparent organisation of the racket, is likely to be a central figure in whatever investigation follows into the gang’s broader operations.
Raja Gangadhar Kale, 22, is currently residing at Babulkheda in Nagpur — a locality within the city proper. His Nagpur residence gives the group a city-based operational base from which to plan and execute their rounds.
Vishal Keshav Walke, 19, is from Tarabori on Katol Road in Katol taluka. At 19, he is the youngest of the three — and his involvement at such a young age raises questions about how and when he was drawn into this fraudulent operation, and whether he has prior criminal involvement or was recruited more recently.
The combination of a taluka-based older accused, a city-resident mid-age accused, and a young rural-to-urban accused is a pattern recognisable from other organised petty fraud operations in Nagpur — where a network typically combines local city knowledge with recruits from smaller towns who are less recognisable to urban targets.
How the Racket Worked — The Mechanics of Faith-Based Fraud
Faith-based donation fraud is one of the most persistent forms of financial crime targeting ordinary citizens across Indian cities — and it is particularly difficult to counter because it exploits the very qualities that make communities function: trust, generosity, and religious devotion.
The Jamsawali temple racket followed a model that will be recognisable to anyone who has studied how such frauds operate. The gang selected a well-known, legitimate, and respected religious institution whose name carries weight with local devotees. They prepared receipt books — the physical props that give the collection activity an air of official legitimacy. They dressed appropriately and spoke confidently about specific religious activities — the Mahaprasad, religious functions — details that a genuine temple representative would know and that add credibility to the pitch.
They then went door to door in residential areas, targeting homes where a religious appeal was likely to find a receptive audience. The receipt book served a dual purpose: it gave the transaction an appearance of formality, and it provided the victim with something physical to hold — a piece of paper that felt like a record of a legitimate donation rather than money simply handed to a stranger.
The investigation has revealed that the accused had been misleading people by falsely using the temple’s name over a period of time. Police suspect that the gang may have collected lakhs of rupees through this fraudulent scheme across multiple areas of Nagpur. The receipt books seized from the accused at the time of arrest are now being examined to establish how many people were defrauded, how much was collected from each, and the total scale of the operation.
The Legal Case — BNS Sections and What They Mean
The case has been registered against all three accused under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita — the criminal code that replaced the Indian Penal Code from July 2024.
Section 318(4) of the BNS deals with cheating — specifically, cheating by personation or by making false representations to induce a person to part with money or property. In this case, the false representation is the claim to be authorised representatives of the Jamsawali temple trust. The victims were induced to donate based on that false representation.
Section 319(2) of the BNS addresses cheating with dishonest inducement — a provision applicable where the cheating has caused the victim to part with money or property through dishonest means. This section recognises that the harm in such fraud is not just financial but involves a deliberate manipulation of the victim’s trust and good faith.
Section 3(5) of the BNS covers criminal conspiracy — the provision applicable when two or more persons agree to commit a criminal act together. Its application here reflects the organised, coordinated nature of the three accused acting as a group — planning, preparing with receipt books, and executing the fraud together — rather than acting independently.
Together, these three BNS sections cover the full criminal picture: the individual fraud acts, the dishonest inducement involved, and the organised criminal cooperation between the three accused. The charges are cognisable and appropriate for the scale and nature of what has been alleged.
The Investigation Going Forward — How Wide Did This Network Reach?
Perhaps the most significant aspect of the Beltarodi Police investigation at this stage is the question that is now open and actively being pursued: did this gang operate only in Beltarodi and its immediate surrounding areas, or did they conduct similar frauds across wider parts of Nagpur and potentially in other districts?
Police are now investigating whether the trio carried out similar frauds in other parts of Nagpur or elsewhere. This is a standard and necessary investigative step when a fraud racket of this type is busted — because the single incident that led to the arrest is rarely the first or the only one. A gang that has prepared printed receipt books and developed a practiced sales pitch has typically run this operation multiple times before.
The receipt books seized from the accused will be central to this investigation. Each receipt issued represents a potential victim — a person who gave money under the fraudulent belief that they were donating to the Jamsawali temple. Investigators will cross-reference receipt numbers with the trust’s actual records to identify every fraudulent transaction. Victims whose names and addresses appear in the receipt books will be contacted and their statements recorded — each such statement potentially becoming additional evidence in the case against the accused.
The possibility that the gang used multiple receipt books across different areas — or that they operated with a larger network of which these three are only the visible tip — is also being examined. At 19, Vishal Walke’s involvement suggests that recruitment may extend to younger individuals in the gang’s operational network.
The Jamsawali Temple Trust — Its Response and Warning to Devotees
The immediate and clear response of the Jamsawali Temple Trust Secretary — confirming that none of the accused had any authorisation from the trust — is both an important piece of evidence in the criminal case and a significant public service in itself.
By clearly disavowing any connection with the three accused and cooperating with police, the trust has protected its own reputation from being permanently tarnished by the fraudulent use of its name. It has also sent a clear public signal that the trust does not conduct door-to-door donation collections through random individuals — information that every devotee should hold in mind.
Nagpur Updates has learned from this incident that citizens who are approached for donations in the name of the Jamsawali temple — or any other well-known temple or religious institution — should directly contact the temple trust to verify whether the collector is authorised before contributing any money. The Jamsawali temple trust, like most registered religious trusts in Nagpur, maintains a contact number and official premises where such verification can be done quickly and easily.
The moment of hesitation that Rajendra Sangam exercised on Sunday morning — the decision to question rather than simply donate — is the model behaviour this situation calls for. It is not disrespectful to the temple or to religious sentiment to verify that a collector is genuine. It is, in fact, the responsible action that protects both the donor and the temple’s reputation from fraudsters who would exploit both.
How to Protect Yourself From Fake Donation Collectors in Nagpur | Jamsawali Hanuman temple
Faith-based donation fraud is common enough across Nagpur — particularly in the weeks before major religious festivals — that every citizen should have a clear mental checklist for when someone arrives at the door claiming to collect in a temple’s name.
The first and most important step is to ask for the collector’s official authorisation letter — a document issued by the temple trust itself, bearing the trust’s letterhead, the collector’s name and photograph, the period of their authorisation, and the trust secretary’s signature and stamp. Any genuine authorised collector from a reputable temple will carry this document. Any collector who cannot produce it should not receive a donation.
The second step — which Rajendra Sangam effectively took — is to call the temple directly if you have any doubt. The trust secretary or management committee can confirm within minutes whether the person at your door is genuinely authorised. Do not let a collector’s impatience or insistence pressure you into donating before you have verified.
The third step is to pay only by crossed cheque or online transfer — payable to the trust’s official bank account — rather than in cash. Cash donations are unverifiable and untraceable. A crossed cheque payable to the temple trust’s registered account is proof that your donation reached the intended recipient, and it gives the fraudster no incentive to accept, since a crossed cheque cannot be cashed by an unauthorised person.
If you are suspicious of a donation collector, contact Beltarodi Police Station or your nearest police station immediately — exactly as Rajendra Sangam did. Do not let the collector leave your premises if you can safely delay them while waiting for police to arrive.
Nagpur Updates Will Track This Case
Beltarodi Police investigation into the full scale of this fake donation racket is ongoing. Nagpur Updates will report on the charge sheet filing, the outcome of the investigation into whether similar frauds were committed in other areas, and the trial proceedings as they develop.
If you or someone you know was approached by individuals claiming to collect donations on behalf of the Jamsawali Hanuman Temple and you believe you may have been defrauded, contact Beltarodi Police Station immediately. Your complaint could be a critical piece of the investigation into this racket’s full scope.
All allegations against Krishna Senaji Walke, Raja Gangadhar Kale, and Vishal Keshav Walke are as per the FIR registered at Beltarodi Police Station. All accused are presumed innocent until convicted by a court of law.
