UP men promise Mumbai woman to cure her mentally ill daughter, dupes her of Rs 13 lakh

Shobha Shetty, 70, has a 43-year-old daughter suffering from mental illness and has been undergoing treatment for 25 years.

A senior citizen from Mazgaon was cheated of Rs 13 lakh by three Uttar Pradesh men who promised to cure her mentally ill daughter by performing a special puja in an ashram. The Sewri police officials have begun an investigation in the case.

Image for representation.

The complainant, Shobha Shetty, 70, has a 43-year-old daughter suffering from mental illness and has been undergoing treatment for 25 years. The police said that Shetty has been exploring all possible options for the treatment of her daughter. She has immense faith in religion and had been performing various kinds of pujas for the well-being of her daughter. Due to this, she often received phone calls from pujaris offering pujas to cure her daughter.

According to the Sewri police, in November 2019, Shetty received a call from one Krishnanand Shastri. He told her that he works in a UP-based Vishwamitra Seva Pvt Ltd Ashram. In the Ashram, many people with serious illnesses were cured.

Shashtri told Shetty that he knew about her daughter’s illness and offered to cure the same by reciting prayers and performing a special puja at the ashram.

Shetty trusted him and requested him to perform puja and offer prayers. As Shashtri also told her that the performing of puja will be chargeable, in December 2019 she paid the first fee of around Rs 5,000 and transferred it in the bank account of Shashtri, as per the complaint.

Later, Shastri would call her frequently and, under the pretext of conducting rituals, would ask her to deposit money in his account, the police said.

Seeing no progress in her daughter’s condition, Shetty started feeling suspicious. When she refused to pay him, he threatened her saying her daughter will commit suicide if the rituals are stopped midway and the family will face serious problems. Shetty, therefore, continued transferring him money, the complainant states.

In April this year, the woman received a call from one Vinod Kumar who informed her that he is the man who was calling her posing as Shashtri. He told her that he was doing so on the instructions of two people - Abhishek Pandey and Prashant Pandey - who have been duping her under the pretext of performing puja for her daughter’s illness. The two bank accounts she transferred money to belonged to the two, an officer said.

Shocked, Shetty then registered a complaint with Sewri police recently.

The police have registered an FIR under sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 3 of Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Unwholesome and Aghori Practices and Witchcraft Act 2013.

“There is a possibility that someone known to the family has tipped of fraudsters about the prolonged illness of Shetty’s daughter. We are in the process of obtaining details of the transactions and would try to locate the suspects based on the information provided by the bank,” an officer, requesting anonymity, said.