Astrologer booked for spreading rumours

Astrologer booked for spreading rumours
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

AHMEDABAD, FEB 2: While self-proclaimed astrologer Ambalal Patel has already wrought much havoc with his ``theory'' about a major earthquake tomorrow, Gandhinagar district police arrested him this evening in a bid to prevent more panic among people.

Ambalal, whose wife deserted him two months ago after calling him a mad man, has been arrested under Section 505 of the IPC for spreading rumours and causing mental agony. He was held around 4.30 pm today from his residence in Sector 16.

Following Ambalal's statements about an earthquake between February 3 and 12, residents who are already living in fear, hit the panic button. The police control room has been flooded with frantic telephone calls from residents wanting to confirm the veracity of the rumours.

``We had been waiting for a public complaint against the astrologer, but as the situation turned worse and he kept spreading such rumours, we were forced to lodge a complaint on our own and arrest him,'' Superintendent of Gandhinagar district police E Radhakrishna told The Indian Expresstoday.

Interestingly, sometime last November, Ambalal's wife deserted him. He thenlodged a complaint with the Gandhinagar police and claimed that according to his calculations, she would be in Allahabad. While a search in Uttar Pradesh proved futile, his wife was finally found at the Asaram Bapu Ashram in Sabarmati in mid-December. ``She told us she had left her husband because of his eccentric behaviour,'' a senior district police officer said.

``If he cannot predict the whereabouts of his wife, how can his claims about an earthquake be reliable? Moreover, no expert in the world has managed predict an earthquake,'' the police officer added, requesting people not to give credence to Ambalal's theory.

Another senior city police officer who has also received a number of calls inquiring about Ambalal's forecast, urged people that there was no truth in the claims.