When three bodies were found in a car in Peeragarhi, Delhi, at first it appeared to be case of suicide by three people together. Now that police have registered a murder case and arrested an occultist for it, new and shocking details emerged in the investigation by Friday.
Main accused Kamruddin alias Baba, 72, originally a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad but currently staying in Loni in Delhi-NCR, allegedly asked his clients to send photographs of women and promised them “dhanvarsha” ('raining money') after a djinn (also, jinn or genie) establishes “physical contact” with them, news agency PTI reported citing police officials.
It was on Sunday, February 8, that the bodies of Randhir Singh, 76, Shiv Naresh Singh, 47, and Laxmi Devi, 40, were found in the car on the Peeragarhi flyover.
Kamruddin was arrested on Thursday, and is currently in five-day police remand. During the probe, police said they found Kamruddin prepared a lethal mixture of 'sulphas' (aluminium phosphide, a pesticide) and sleeping pills in a soft drink, which he made his three followers consume. Police are questioning a man from Firozabad who is suspected to have supplied the pesticide.
Djinn link via ‘tall woman, with long hair’
Investigators say they found photographs of several girls and women in victim Laxmi's phone, in which they were standing with their hair open and holding up papers mentioning personal details. The photos were circulated in groups and shared across multiple contacts, PTI said citing cops.
{{/usCountry}}Investigators say they found photographs of several girls and women in victim Laxmi's phone, in which they were standing with their hair open and holding up papers mentioning personal details. The photos were circulated in groups and shared across multiple contacts, PTI said citing cops.
{{/usCountry}}Further, according to police, Kamruddin promised his clients a windfall if they paid him around ₹2 lakh, and had a woman in their family matching specific physical descriptions — tall, with long hair — through whom a djinn would “establish physical contact without the person realising it".
If his followers raised doubts or got no results, he cited reasons such as the woman being bitten by an animal or having undergone surgery, police officials found in his interrogation and related investigations. Police also said he trapped people by claiming he could perform surgical procedures without stitches, charging up to ₹7,000 per visit.
In the Peeragarhi murder case, a “djinn mantra” was recovered on a paper from the pocket of victim Shiv Naresh. Randhir and Shiv Naresh, both property dealers from Najafgarh’s Baprola village, knew each other. As for Laxmi, her family has said she was in touch with a ‘godman’ because her husband was sick and she thought occult could help. Laxmi was Naresh's contact for the Baba, police have found.
Kamruddin had allegedly convinced them to perform a puja, and asked them to bring ₹2 lakh in cash, plus liquor and cold drinks. He made them consume the poison he'd prepared, took the cash and fled, police have said.
When police reached his residence in Loni posing as clients seeking treatment for a child, he allegedly tried to flee by jumping a 15-foot wall but was later caught.
Peeragarhi not only case
The three victims in Peeragarhi were not the only murdered by Baba Kamruddin, police have said.
He is now being linked to six murder cases across Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi, while police suspect his role in two more killings, PTI reported.
Locals in his neighbourhood feared him as he would threaten people during disputes and leave suspicious objects outside their homes to intimidate them. Police have widened the probe into his financial transactions and contacts too. His properties, including plots and a marriage hall in Firozabad, are likely to be attached to the probe.
Police are also examining similarities between these cases, such as the use of poison-laced laddoos or drinks.