“Beggar-free Indore” mission designed to pull the destitute off the streets and restore dignity through rehabilitation has instead uncovered a man who had been minting crores sitting on a sliding iron cart with ball-bearing wheels.
“Beggar-free Indore” mission designed to pull the destitute off the streets and restore dignity through rehabilitation has instead uncovered a man who had been minting crores sitting on a sliding iron cart with ball-bearing wheels. Mangilal, a physically disabled man who has been a familiar sight for years in Sarafa Bazaar, never openly begged. Instead, he sat quietly in corners or moved slowly through the crowd, a backpack slung over his shoulders, using his hands tucked inside a pair of shoes to push himself along.
Moved, passers-by would routinely slip cash or coins into his palm. On an average day, his collections ranged between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.
That reality surfaced when a rescue team from Madhya Pradesh’s women and child development department recently picked up Mangilal as part of the anti-begging drive and informed him that he would be rehabilitated. During questioning, the truth came out.
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Mangilal told nodal officer Dinesh Mishra that he owns a three-storey house in Bhagat Singh Nagar, a 600 sq ft home in Shiv Nagar, and a one-bedroom flat in Alwasa that he received through the Red Cross Society under the PMAY scheme on the grounds of his disability. He also owns three auto-rickshaws that are rented out, and even a Swift Dzire car with a driver on his payroll.
Investigators found that Mangilal had been quietly funneling the “alms” he received into a high-interest moneylending operation, targeting small jewellery businesses in Sarafa Bazaar. He allegedly collected daily or weekly interest from borrowers.
“He has given us an idea of how much money he has, but we are still to arrive at the exact figure. We are probing all his sources of income and properties in his name,” Mishra said.
Officials have now compiled a list of Mangilal’s bank accounts and other cash holdings, which are set to be verified. He will also be produced before the district collector to explain how he obtained a PMAY house despite already owning multiple properties. District programme officer Rajnish Sinha confirmed that Mangilal owns what he termed “significant property”. “He is also involved in usury, which is a crime. Action will be taken against those who promote begging.”
Mangilal currently lives with his parents in the Alwasa flat, while his two brothers live separately.
Indore’s aggressive campaign to clear its streets of beggars was launched in February 2024. Over the past two years, agencies involved in the drive have identified around 6,500 beggars, counselling nearly 4,500 of them into earning livelihoods through state-run initiatives. About 1,600 rescued beggars have been shifted to an ashram in Ujjain, while the programme has also helped enrol 172 children in schools.
