Express News Service reported from Surat on March 18, 2008:
“A Sikh man of Birmingham in the United Kingdom came to Surat and handed over an application to Surat police Commissioner about a priest from Suratwho allegedly had conned him in the United Kingdom.
Karnail Singh, a shopkeeper in Birmingham, came to India to attend some function at his native Jalandhar in Punjab a couple of months ago. After completing the function, he came to Surat and met Surat Police Commisiioner and handed him an application about a priest. who had come to the United Kingdom in 2004and had cheated him to the tune of £15,000.
Singh later also contacted Umra police inspector and explained the details of his case.
According to Singh, he came in contact with Kandarp Kumar Joshi, a resident of Harihar Park at Althan Road at his friend Naresh Kumar’s house in Birmingham on December 11, 2004. Joshi, reportedly a priest, then visited Singh’s house and told him that something is wrong in his house and his daughter will not get married unless and until some holy work is done. Joshi, posing himself as a preacher, charged him £8,000 for getting his house free from black magic.
Joshi later told him that fro continuation of the work he has to go back to India with the money. Singh kept faith in him and also gave him air fare.
Later when inquired about the work, Joshi asked Singh to remain tension freeas the work was under progress.
Singh said ‘After waiting for a long period and seeing no progress in the work we understood that we have been cheated. After that he did not pick our calls. My relatives in Punjab found out his residential number and called him to ask him to return the money or they will take the matter to the police. We asked him to deposit £15,000in our account. But he only deposited £2,294 in my account on 25th March, 2005 and asked for some months’ time to make the rest of the payment. After waiting for a year, we learnt that he had shifted to a new place. We located his new residential address and tried to contact him but he never took our call.’
Surat Police Commissioner R.M.S. Brar said ‘I have told him to explain the entire incident to Umra police inspector Ramesh Patel and that we will decide our course of action later.’ “

The Asian Rationalist Society (Britain) who look into complaints such as Mr Singh, took part in the Midlands Today series about the paranormal. They have offered £10,000 to anyone who can prove that they really have supernatural powers. Here they show someone who claimed they could get blood out of a chapatti. What we see is an example of a cheap conjuring trick that members of the Asian Rationalist Society are able to replicate themselves, but perhaps rather better.