BENGALURU: A 49-year-old fake tantrik (occultist) has been arrested by the Bengaluru city police for allegedly cheating multiple people out of their gold jewellery under the pretext of performing rituals.
The accused, identified as Dadapeer (49), a native of Kolar, was originally running a bicycle repair shop.
Posing as a tantrik, he lured victims by claiming he could solve their personal and family problems through rituals. After gaining their trust, he told them that there were hidden treasures in their homes and offered to help them retrieve the treasure. Eventually, he fled with their gold jewellery.
The Hulimavu police arrested him and solved three similar cases; seven more cases have been registered against him, including in Andhra Pradesh.
A senior officer said Dadapeer targeted people from middle-class families and approached victims after collecting their personal details. He used to make claims such as the family of the victims was facing problems due to supernatural reasons.
He would later promise to perform special pujas to remove such obstacles.
After winning their confidence, he would tell them that there are hidden treasures buried in their homes and offer to retrieve them in exchange for 20–25% commission.
To conduct the so-called ritual, he instructed the victims to bring their gold ornaments to be used in the puja. During the ceremony, he collected the jewellery, placed it inside a box, and asked the victims to dig a spot inside their house. Before burying the box, he told them to step outside as he needed to perform the ritual alone. He then stole the gold ornaments.
After sprinkling flowers and turmeric powder on the box, he called the victims back, sealed the spot, and advised them to perform puja for 48 days without opening it.
He would call the victims regularly for around 40 to 45 days to ensure that they followed his fake rituals, and later, he switched off his phone and disappeared.
The police traced him using photos provided by the victims. A similar case was being investigated in Shivamogga. He used to approach people from different communities, wearing traditional attire suited to each group, and frequently changed SIM cards to avoid detection.
Police said that Dadapeer had three wives and ten children living in different parts of the city and was also involved in three to four extramarital affairs.
He was cheating people to look after his family and to spend on his paramours. So far, the police have recovered 485.4 grams of gold ornaments worth around Rs 53 lakh, which were found at his residence.
The remaining ornaments had been pledged at jewellery shops in Bengaluru and Maharashtra.
