Nine, including woman, held for occult treasure-hunting ritual near Ballarshah

Ballarshah police in Chandrapur district have foiled an occult plot to search for buried treasure by detaining an inter-district group. Nine people, including a woman, were taken into custody in a deserted area on the riverbank near Visapur village. The action succeeded at midnight because of the alertness of local residents.

The incident took place around midnight on September 9, when a vehicle bearing registration number MH-40-CX-4616 was seen heading towards the river near Visapur village with some people inside. The vehicle carried several men and a woman, and their manner made local residents suspicious that they were headed there to search for buried treasure or perform some occult ritual. Residents immediately informed head constable Mahurkar at the Visapur police post.

This information was passed on by sub-inspector Karishma More, who was on night duty, to police inspector Bipin Ingle of Ballarshah. On receiving the tip-off, Ingle reached the Visapur-Kolgaon crossroads with his team in a government vehicle, where local residents were already waiting for the vehicle. Shortly after, the same vehicle was seen returning towards the village via the Kolgaon-Visapur road. Police stopped the vehicle and questioned the occupants, who evaded giving a straight answer instead of responding directly. Suspecting something serious, police brought all eight people in the vehicle, seven men and one woman, to Ballarshah police station for further questioning.

An inspection of the spot revealed that preparations for an occult ritual and digging a pit in search of buried treasure had already been made in the deserted riverside location. During questioning, police found that Devagan Vikram Sahare (42) of the Hingna area of Nagpur was the main person behind the group, who had gathered everyone together. Absconding accused Shantaram Hingane of Rampur village in Rajura tehsil had lured Devagan by claiming there was buried treasure on his farm and offering to show him the spot. For this, tantric Shyamrao Natthu Aatram (59) of Ralegaon in Yavatmal district was called in. The presence of a woman was said to be necessary during the ritual, so Dipali Durgesh Dhawral (40) of Nagpur was brought along, and she herself admitted to having full knowledge of rituals for finding buried treasure.

Also involved were Narendra Baburao Raut (50) of Nagpur and Kishor Nanaji Naitam (51) of Yavatmal, who were to dig the pit; Amol Ramdas Raut (32) of Hinganghat in Wardha, who was to remove the soil in a basket; Ganesh Bhadu Jhade (33) of Kuhi, Nagpur, who had come in hope of the treasure; Rahul Sadashiv Khedekar (33) of Arvi in Rajura tehsil, who brought materials for the ritual; and Ram Babarao Kale (42), the driver who brought everyone from Nagpur in the vehicle. The investigation also established that all the accused had coordinated among themselves to gather for this occult activity at midnight.

On a complaint filed by Ballarshah police station in-charge Bipin Subhash Ingle, a case has been registered against ten people in total: the nine accused, including main conspirator Devagan Sahare, tantric Shyamrao Aatram and Dipali Dhawral, as well as absconding accused Shantaram Hingane, under sections 3(2) and 3(3) of the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013. Police inspector Anil Raut is conducting further investigation into the case, and a search for the absconding accused is under way. Police have appealed to people not to fall into the trap of such superstition, occult practices or fraud.