NEW DELHI: The Delhi police have arrested a 70-year-old occult practitioner for allegedly killing three people, including a woman, by feeding them poison-laced laddoos in the Peeragarhi area on the pretext of performing a ritual that promised “dhanvarsha”—financial gains.
The accused—identified as Kamruddin alias Baba, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad—had reportedly asked the victims to bring him Rs 2 lakh, promising to multiply it to Rs 3 lakh. He had been running tantrik centres in Loni and Firozabad.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Sachin Sharma said, “An investigation has revealed that the accused lured people by promising them “dhanvarsha” through tantrik rituals. He would first try and gain their trust for it and then feed them laddoos mixed with poison to rob their cash and valuables.”
The matter came to light on Sunday, when the Paschim Vihar East police station got a PCR call about two men and a woman lying unconscious in a car. Cops rushed to the spot and had them shifted to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, where doctors declared them brought dead. The police found liquor & cold drink bottles, empty glasses, mobile phones, cash, helmets, jackets, Aadhaar cards and documents during an inspection of the vehicle.
The deceased were identified as Randhir (76) of Baprola village, Shiv Naresh (42) of the Nagli Dairy and Laxmi (40), a resident of Jahangirpuri. The kin of the deceased ruled out the angle of suicide and expressed suspicion about the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
Upon scrutinising CCTV footage, the police found that on the day of the incident, one more person was with them inside the car. A detailed technical analysis and interrogation of connected people revealed that the three victims had been in touch with Kamruddin, who had assured them financial gains through rituals. They had also visited Loni the day of the incident and remained in touch with him.
Further analysis established that Kamruddin was the person present with them in the car on the day of the incident. He had boarded the vehicle in Loni and later fled.
During his interrogation, Kamruddin initially tried to mislead the investigators. However, he admitted to the crime after he failed to give any satisfactory explanation. The self-styled godman said he had accompanied the victims on the journey in the car and fed them the laddoos he had mixed with poison. He reportedly also made them consume liquor and cold drinks. After they fell unconscious, he made off with their money. Further technical and circumstantial evidence corroborated the presence of the accused in the vehicle at the time of the incident.
Notably, this is not Kamruddin’s first run-in with the law. He is a history sheeter who has been previously involved in two criminal cases in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. He has reportedly killed around six to seven people so far. One case was registered in 2014 in Rajasthan’s Dholpur and another one last year in Firozabad.