Tantrik who duped family of ₹10 lakh jewellery lands in police net

According to the victim, the accused came to his house on May 30 to exorcise his wife who had been unwell for a long time

LUCKNOW A tantrik (occultist), who duped a family of jewellery worth ₹10 lakh by offering to cure a man’s ill wife in May this year, was arrested in the Saadatganj police station area on Wednesday. The valuables and ₹30,000 cash, which he got after selling some jewellery, were seized by cops, said officials.

The family informed the police about this on September 2, after which a case was registered with the Saadatganj police. (Pic for representation)

The accused was identified as Shadab alias Shanu, 45, a native of Jaunpur, who lived in a rented accommodation in Saadatganj area here, said Omvir Singh, DCP (west).

According to the complainant Naushad Mohammad Ansari, the accused Shadab came to his house on May 30 to exorcise his wife Qaiser Jahan who had been unwell for a long time. The accused asked him to bring three pots and some lemons. After that, Shadab started exorcising Qaiser in the verandah of the house.

“He also asked me to bring my wife’s jewellery, claiming that the valuables too possess evil spirit due to which she remains ill, and that it needs to be exorcised,” added Ansari.

“Shadab put all the jewellery in a pot and tied it with a black cloth and kept the cash in the second pot and water in the third. After some time, he sliced a lemon and asked the couple to take this water and pour it on the south side of their roof,” said the DCP, adding that as soon as the man, his wife and son went towards the roof with the pot of water, the accused decamped with the jewellery in the pot along with the money in the second.

It was suspected that the man cheated several other people in remote areas. But many of these cases were not reported as people shied away from sharing such information with the police, said the DCP.