Nashik godman held for duping families with promise of raining Rs 15 crore

A case of fraud has come to light in the jurisdiction of Abhona police station in Nashik district's Kalwan taluka. A self-styled godman from Pimple Khurd village lured some families from Mumbai with the promise that he could make rupees 15 crore rain down on them through rituals and chanting. When the victims realised they had been cheated, they contacted activists of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (a committee working against superstition). A case was registered against the godman at Abhona police station on Wednesday night, and police arrested him along with six associates. The accused godman has been identified as Hirachand Shivaji Barde.

According to the details of the case, Rajaram Sitaram Shelar, a resident of Borivali in Mumbai, was introduced to the accused Hirachand Barde by some friends. Barde told him he could make currency notes rain down through rituals and chanting, but said some money would have to be paid first. Rajaram Shelar and four of his friends initially gave the godman Rs 1,000 each. The godman then showed them that through the ritual, the Rs 1,000 had turned into Rs 2 lakh. Having witnessed this "miracle", they all came to trust him. The godman then told them that if the five of them together gave him Rs 11 lakh, he would make Rs 15 crore rain down through rituals and chanting. He went on to extract a total of Rs 10.55 lakh from them over time, in cash and online.

During the ritual, the godman placed rice, incense sticks and a coconut in the victims' hands and began chanting. He then staged a sudden burst from the coconut to create the impression of a miracle, and claimed that Rs 3 crore in cash had rained down, handing the victims a sack full of money. He warned them to take the sack home, worship it for seven days without opening it, or face divine wrath. Meanwhile, one of the victim's aunts died, so the ritual could not be performed. The godman then claimed the money in the sack had become impure and would need to be purified through another ritual, for which more money would have to be paid. The victims paid him several more lakh rupees. A few days later, growing suspicious, they opened the sack and found that only the topmost note in each bundle was real, with the rest being fake notes of the kind used as children's toys.

When the victims confronted the godman, he told them they would have to perform a ritual, unclothed, at a cremation ground on the night of the new moon. The victims refused and demanded their money back, at which point the godman threatened to make them disappear and to kill them. The victims then contacted activists of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (Anis). With the help of the organisation's state general secretary Dr T R Gorane and state member Krishna Chandgude, the victims reached Abhona police station. Inspector Yogita Kokate, in charge of the station, registered a case against the godman Hirachand Barde under the anti-superstition law along with other sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and arrested him. An appeal has been made that anyone else cheated by him in the same manner should contact Abhona police or activists of the Maharashtra Anis.