E-Paper
Godman promises to find why farmer’s cows weren’t producing milk, dupes him of lakhs
Self-styled godman Uttam Bhagwat promised to help find out who damaged the complainant’s drip irrigation pipeline and why his cows were not producing milk.
A self-proclaimed godman was booked on Wednesday night by Pune rural police for duping a farmer of ₹12 lakh under the guise of providing a solution to his burst drip irrigation pipelines and determine why his cows were not producing milk. The Maharashtra anti-black magic act was invoked against the godman at Walchandnagar police station.
Members from the Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (ANiS) - an organisation dedicated to fighting superstition in India, particularly in Maharashtra - claim that several others also approached them with similar complaints against the man.
The complainant, Dadasaheb Tamhane (45), a farmer from Aasu village in Phaltan region of Satara district, lodged a complaint against the godman who was identified as Uttam Lakshman Bhagwat.
“He kept telling us that a family member will suffer physical harm if we do not pay him so he could perform pooja for us,” said Tamhane.
The man also allegedly told the victim that they should not reveal anything about the pooja process to anyone if he wanted it to be successful.
“The godman had offered to find the person who had damaged the pipelines of drip irrigation in the complainant’s farm. He then told him that someone had performed black magic to damage his farm. The farmer believed him and agreed to get a pooja done,” said Nandini Jadhav, Pune district head, ANiS.
A case under Sections 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code along with Section 3(2) of Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013 was registered at Walchandnagar police station.
