Godman tells Charkop woman her house is haunted, dupes her of lakhs

Local Press Co 5-point Snippet

1. On Thursday, Charkop police arrested self proclaimed godman Sachin Joshi for duping a 44-year-old woman to the tune of Rs 6.5 lakh.

2. The accused had approached the victim, identified as Sumedha Nalavade, in 2014 and claimed that her in-laws were against her. He also alleged that her in-laws had done some black magic to haunt her house. Co-incidentally, Sumedha was going through a bad-phase in her family life and chose to believe whatever Joshi told her.

3. He then assured of helping the victim and asked her to perform a pooja, for which she had paid him Rs 3,000. Later Sumedha and her daughter were asked to sit in a circle drawn by him as he performed the ritual. After its completion, the 24-year-old fraudster directed them to go back home.

4. A few days later, when the victim realised that the things haven’t changed, she confronted the godman. “Joshi told her that the ritual was incomplete and he would need more money. Joshi then kept on demanding money and warned her that if she refused to give him money to complete the ritual, her husband and daughter’s lives would be in danger,” an officer told DNA.

5. Later, when Joshi stopped answering Sumedha’s calls, she realised she had been cheated and approached Charkop police to file a complaint. Following which, Joshi was arrested and was booked under relevant sections of the IPC. Investigation further revealed that the victim, in the period of two years, had paid borrowed Rs 6.5 lakh to pay the accused.