Skins of tiger, snake, animal teeth, ghost detection machines seized from arrested Thane godman’s residence

After a 40-year-old self-proclaimed godman and his two accomplices were arrested by the Chitalsar Police in Thane city for striking his nine-year-old nephew on his private parts and then locking him in the washroom, the police have recovered tiger skins, teeth of different animals, skins of snakes and ghost detection machines from the accused’s residence

After a 40-year-old self-proclaimed godman and his two accomplices were arrested by the Chitalsar Police in Thane city for striking his nine-year-old nephew on his private parts and then locking him in the washroom, the police have recovered tiger skins, teeth of different animals, skins of snakes and ghost detection machines from the accused’s residence.

Thane Chitalsar Manpada police officials with the seized skins of tiger, snake and animal teeth among other materials used by a self-proclaimed godman, who was arrested along with his two aides, at a press conference in Thane on Wednesday. (PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO)

The police arrested the godman and his aides for the crime under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act and Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act.

The accused, Kuldip Nikam, Kishor Navale and Sneha Shinde, were arrested on March 14 and were in police custody for 10 days as per the court orders. After further investigation and search at the accused’s house, police found all these materials that the accused have used for black magic, threatening and looting several people.

A police officer said, “Navale, who works under Nikam, has kept some of the equipment and two tiger skins and skin of a snake at his residence in Badlapur. All materials worth ₹6.50 lakh were recovered. We are investigating as to where he got the animals’ teeth and skins. These things were used to perform some black magic practices.”

According to police officials, Priyanka Shelke, 31, Nikam’s sister who filed a complaint against him, came to stay with him after she separated from her husband. Nikam would regularly hint that her son was dangerous and should be kept away from them. He alleged that the boy would turn into a murderer and a sexual assaulter in the future. For this, he claimed that the boy needed to be sacrificed. He used to physically assault the boy and beat his private parts with sticks. They also used to lock him in the bathroom naked for hours.

Nikam worked in a religious organisation for a few years and had his own social media handle. He lost his job in marketing and started consulting people who wanted to practice black magic. He also charged a lot of money to rid people of their problems.