A startling revelation has emerged from the Indore administration’s ongoing drive to make the city beggar-free, exposing how a man long seen begging on a wooden board in a busy food market was, in fact,
a “millionaire”.
The district administration recently rescued Mangilal, a physically-challenged man who had been begging for years in the Sarafa area. Subsequent verification revealed that Mangilal owned three houses, including a large three-storey property in Bhagat Singh Nagar and another spacious house in Shivnagar. In addition, he owned two auto-rickshaws that are run on rent and a car for which he has hired a driver on a monthly salary of Rs 12,000.
Officials found that Mangilal earned thousands of rupees daily through begging and had reportedly begun lending money to shopkeepers in the Sarafa market on a daily and weekly basis at interest. Despite his financial status, he had also received a 1 BHK house measuring 10×20 feet from the Red Cross Society under government disability benefits.
District Collector Shivam Verma, speaking via video call, said that under the beggar-free campaign, both begging and giving alms are punishable offences. He said the administration was taking strict action and that Mangilal’s case was under detailed investigation. “If required, an FIR will be registered after the inquiry,” officials said.
For now, Mangilal has been sent to a relief centre in Ujjain, where officials are verifying his activities, sources of income and declared assets. The Collector also appealed to citizens to report incidents of begging, announcing a reward of Rs 1,000 for verified information. Mangilal had reportedly been flagged multiple times by residents and traders in the Sarafa area.
During the investigation, officials also found that Mangilal’s family members were involved in begging alongside him. According to preliminary estimates, his annual income is believed to be between Rs 15 lakh-Rs 20 lakh, generated through a combination of begging, house rent and money lending.
The administration said this was not an isolated case. In the past, a woman was found to have earned Rs 2.5 lakh in just 45 days through begging, following which police registered a case against her under the Juvenile Justice Act. Officials maintain that such cases reflect the exploitation of public sympathy and amount to cheating society.
The final course of action against Mangilal will be decided after the investigation report is submitted. The beggar-free campaign, launched in 2024, has so far identified around 6,500 beggars across the city. Of these, more than 4,000 have been counselled and rehabilitated, while over 1,500 have been shifted to an ashram in Ujjain as part of the government’s efforts to curb organised begging.
