Cuttack: A man, claiming himself to be a ‘tantrik’, was arrested by police for allegedly duping a woman of Rs 62 lakh on the plea of helping her find hidden treasure in her house in Odisha’s Cuttack city.
Speaking to media persons on Friday, Cuttack DCP Pinak Mishra said the arrested man has been identified as Kaifi Khan of Kesharpur in the city. He was arrested after the woman of Mangalabag filed a police complaint against him.
As per the complaint, the 39-year-old woman came to know Kaifi through her driver. As her mother was frequently falling ill, she contacted Kaifi to find the way for her recovery.
The so called tantric visited the woman’s house and told her that there was an evil spirit in the house. He assured her of warding off the spirit. At the same time, he told her that there was hidden treasure buried somewhere in the house.
“On the plea of performing some tantrik works with his supernatural power to find the treasure, Kaifi took money from the woman. During the last one year, he took Rs 62 lakh from the woman in phases,” said the DCP.
The ‘tantrik’ had given some stones claiming those to be gold and diamond to the woman. Later, when she took those to a jeweller, she could know that those were fake stones. Realising that she had been duped by Kaifi, she filed a complaint at Mangalabag police station.
The police conducted a raid on the house of the accused and seized Rs 2 lakh, two luxury cars, a motorcycle, some metals and crystals and 70 high-end smart phones.
The DCP said the accused had invested the money looted from the victim to set up a mobile store. He had bought the cars from her money.
After the arrest of Kaifi, the police have launched a detailed investigation to ascertain the involvement of other persons in the crime.
