‘Black magician' cons woman with promise of hidden treasure
Senior inspector Sunil Thopte of Koregaon Park police said, "The cheating occurred between June 12 and 15 this year. Khanbaba, a 65-year-old resident of Koregaon Park, promised to perform special prayers to help her obtain a 'hidden treasure'—a pot full of gold and other valuables—after the woman approached him seeking his help to improve her financial condition."
Thopte said, "After taking the money and performing some rituals, he gave her a pot wrapped in black cloth and instructed her to open it on the 17th day at 11.21pm.
When the woman opened the pot at the given time, she found only mud inside. Realising that she had been defrauded, she contacted Khanbaba."
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"When the woman confronted him, he demanded more money and threatened to turn her into a goat using his supernatural powers if she failed to comply," Thopte said.
"The woman, a mother of two, was facing financial difficulties, and came in contact with Khanbaba through a common friend," Thopte added.
"Khanbaba continued to issue threats and harass her," he said.
"After the woman spoke to him on the phone, Khanbaba called her to his place on Wednesday evening. However, we had already set up a trap near his home and arrested him when the woman went to meet him," Thopte said.
Khanbaba was arrested under sections related to cheating and Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act.
He was produced before a city court, which remanded him in police custody till July 19.
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