Gang invokes 'evil spirits', tries Rs 12-lakh swindle

Three conmen who were posing as spiritual healers and duping gullible people by sowing fears of evil spirits in them were arrested while they were cheating a woman of Rs 12 lakh in south-east Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar.

Pawan Kumar Pandey, 31, Shesh Narayan Dubey, 32, and Sunil Kumar Pandey, 32, were involved in cheating people by instilling fear in their mind of evil powers, police said.

On Tuesday, Inderjeet Kaur, a resident of Lajpat Nagar, reported an incident of cheating and extortion by a gang of cheats by putting her under the fear of evil powers.

According to police, after the death of Inderjeet’s parents, she was living off the money which she inherited from her father’s retirement benefits. She was alone and was having some mental and physical problems.

On September 7, 2013, Inderjeet received an SMS regarding free solutions to several problems, including marriage, education, job and health. When she called on the number, a person who introduced himself as Tyagi Baba and asked her about her problems.

After listening to her, Baba told Inderjeet that evil powers are working against her. Due to some black magic being done by someone, the death of five people in her family is certain. He added that since two people have already died in her family, three more deaths will take place anytime soon.

The man told Inderjeet that as a corrective measure, some puja needs to be done. Later, she was informed that a 100-year-old ascetic who was conducting a puja for her in Ayodhya had fallen unconscious while fighting against evil powers hovering over her and she could be held responsible for it.

Putting her under immense fear, Baba asked her to deposit Rs 6 lakh in an ICICI Bank account number and another Rs 6 lakh in SBI.

Inderjeet got suspicious that she might have been cheated by the man and did not pay him.

When the accused did not get the money, he started calling her from a different number and asked for the money, refusing which she may suffer severe injuries on her body from evil powers.

The woman then registered a case in Lajpat Nagar police station and an investigation was taken up.

On November 24, a trap was laid and the cheats were called to collect the money through Inderjeet.

Sunil, who had come to collect the money, was apprehended and interrogated by police. It was then revealed that he is a member of the gang of cheats which is involved in extorting money from innocent people by exploiting their superstitious beliefs.

He also revealed that the gang is headed by Pawan who has established an office with the name of Shree Shiv Sewa Samit in Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad. On further interrogation, he revealed the name of his other accomplice.