Peeragarhi triple murder: Police identify 5 more targets of occultist

Further investigation has led the police to five previous victims, who are residents of Loni, Ghazipur and Jahangirpuri. Also, the accused allegedly uses two mobile phones.

The Delhi Police on Saturday said they took the 72-year-old occultist – accused of poisoning three people in west Delhi’s Peeragarhi – to recreate the crime scene for further probe. He was taken from Ghaziabad’s Loni till Peeragarhi, police said.

Police said they will question these five men to ascertain how the ‘Baba’ reached them (Representative photo)

Further investigation has led the police to five previous victims, who are residents of Loni, Ghazipur and Jahangirpuri. Also, the accused allegedly uses two mobile phones.

On February 8, three people –- Randhir Singh, 76; Shiv Naresh, 47; and Laxmi, 40 – were found dead in a parked car on a flyover service lane in Peeragarhi. There were no visible injuries or signs of struggle. Police later arrested Kamruddin, a Ghaziabad resident, alleging he poisoned the three with sedative-laced laddoos as part of a ritual for monetary gain called “dhanvarsha”.

Police have determined that Kamruddin used a combination of crushed sulphas tablets and sleeping pills mixed into laddoos to poison the three individuals.

“The scene recreation is an important part since we want to ascertain what happened on February 8. How the victims met him, what all happened inside the car, where they drove, where they ate the laddoos...at what time did the man rob them and leave. Also, how they ended up at the flyover,” an investigator explained.

About the other victims, a senior police officer said, “They have been duped of ₹10,000 to ₹20,000 on the pretext of treating different ailments, marriage issues, among other problems. The accused was brainwashing them to spend all their savings and try occult practices for ‘dhanvarsha’. Even after his arrest, these men were calling him and trying to look for a solution.”

Police said they will question these five men to ascertain how the “Baba” reached them.

Investigators said that the occultist used two mobile numbers. “One was a keypad phone which has been recovered and is being analysed. We found that he also has a second number. This was found after we analysed the victims’ phones. We are now looking for the second SIM which is likely being used in another phone. This phone could contain many photos, videos and transactions with his targets,” added the officer.

On Saturday, HT reported that Delhi Police have recovered numerous photographs and videos of women from Laxmi’s phone, which had been sent to Kamruddin over recent months. “The images depicted women having their height measured and holding placards with personal details such as name and parents’ names. The women were referred to as ‘articles’ in accompanying messages,” an officer had said.

Several photos also contained women holding forms with personal information – including height, last menstrual cycle dates, and whether they were virgins. “We suspect these women were involved in some kind of occult practice,” the officer said, adding that they are probing if “occultists like Kamruddin” would touch women inappropriately under the pretext of performing rituals for financial gain. To be sure, the officer clarified that no clear evidence or complaint of sexual assault has emerged.

Printouts of the photos sent to Kamruddin were recovered from his residence.