NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police has detained a self-styled baba from northeast Delhi for questioning in connection with the recovery of three bodies from a car parked near the Peeragarhi flyover, officials said on Tuesday. Police are examining the baba’s role in the incident, they said.
“The baba lures people by making tempting promises of earning money. He used to entice people by claiming to double or multiply money through occult practices,” sources said.
Police sources said CCTV footage from the night of the incident shows the baba seated in the front seat of the car along with one of the deceased.
According to a senior police officer, several criminal cases had earlier been registered against the self-styled mystic, and many of his former clients either died under suspicious circumstances or went missing. However, he was acquitted in all such cases due to lack of evidence, the officer said.
Sources said the family of Laxmi Devi (40), one of the deceased, was already acquainted with the baba, and investigators suspect that she may have introduced him to Randhir (76) and Shiv Naresh Singh (47). Police are reviewing CCTV footage from multiple locations to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to the incident.
On Sunday, the bodies of two men—Randhir and Shiv Naresh Singh—and a woman, Laxmi Devi, who was seated in the back seat, were found inside a car parked on the service lane of the Peeragarhi flyover. Police broke open the car after receiving information and recovered the bodies, officials said. Traces of liquor, along with glasses, were also found inside the vehicle, the officials said.
The baba is said to live a simple life and has a family. He does not dress or live like a typical holy man. Police said the case is being investigated from all angles, including murder and suicide. There is no robbery angle so far, as all valuables were found intact with the victims.
Police added that Randhir and Naresh had known each other for the past six years and were partners in property-related work.
One of the deceased acquainted with baba
Sources said the family of Laxmi Devi (40), one of the deceased, was already acquainted with the baba, and investigators suspect that she may have introduced him to Randhir (76) and Shiv Naresh Singh (47). Police said that Randhir and Naresh had known each other for the past six years.
