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Villagers held for plotting to kill minister through black magic

RAIPUR: Two villagers allegedly “deprived” of a destitute pension scheme offered Rs 10 lakh for engaging sorcery by a tantrik to kill the Chhattisgarh minister whom

Published on: Jun 19, 2016, 07:00:05 IST
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RAIPUR: Two villagers allegedly “deprived” of a destitute pension scheme offered Rs 10 lakh for engaging sorcery by a tantrik to kill the Chhattisgarh minister whom they blamed for “ignoring” their pleas in Mahasamund district, around 110 km from Raipur.

HT Image
HT Image

Kriparam Sahni (50) and Dheluram Tandon (70) — driven by superstitious belief — contacted one Johidaram Kewat to arrange a Baiga tantrik who could use black magic to kill panchayat and health minister Ajay Chandrakar.

Police said Kewat, who initially agreed to cooperate, later cited his helplessness in helping out Sahni and Tandon, which lead to a bitter scuffle between him and the two accused.

“Kewat lodged a complaint and their plan got exposed,” additional superintended of police (SP) (Mahasamund) RK Bhatt said.

“The two villagers were arrested and sent to jail for criminal intimidation. During interrogation, both said they were deprived of some pension scheme and blamed the district administration and the minister for not addressing their grievances,” Bhatt added.

Since the villagers are too financially backward to afford the amount, the police suspect the involvement of others in the offence and have constituted a probe team to look into the case.

“The police should inquire into the matter and find who is behind the conspiracy,” Chandrakar said.

Much like the police, the rationalists too find the “deal” to kill someone through magic “weird and illogical”.

“This shows sheer lack of awareness. There is nothing like black magic, that can take away or protect one’s life. If a person can die by such magic effects, then why would the governments spend so much on arms and missiles? And if there is evil superstitious solutions to safeguard one’s life then there is no need for hospitals, doctors and medicines,” quipped physician and social activist Dinesh Mishra, who is also the president of Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, an anti-superstition organisation.

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