Pimpri Chinchwad police have arrested a 29-year-old self-styled ‘godman’ from Sus Gaon area for allegedly sexually abusing several men under the guise of offering ‘supernatural solutions’ to their financial and personal problems.
Investigators also found that the accused had secretly installed an app on the victims’ phones and used to ask them to perform sexual acts on camera. Police have been approached by at least half-a-dozen victims of the accused.
An FIR was registered in this connection on Friday by a 39-year-old real estate developer at Bavdhan police station in Pimpri Chinchwad. Police have arrested the accused self-styled ‘godman’ Prasad Bhimrao Tamdar alias Prasad Dada, a resident of Swami Samarth building in Sus Gaon.
An investigation has revealed that the accused was running an establishment called ‘Brahmand Nayak Matha’ and claimed to provide supernatural solutions to financial, personal and health issues of his followers. Police said that the accused had been very active on social media and has over 1.5 lakh followers on various platforms where he regularly posted videos about his purported healing powers.
“We have till now been approached by at least half-a-dozen followers of this self-styled ‘godman’, who have alleged sexual abuse, financial exploitation and illegal electronic surveillance by the accused over the past several months. We have reasons to believe that many more followers have been exploited and abused in this manner,” said an officer who is part of the probe.
The complainant had approached the accused in November last year to find a solution for his financial issues. At the time, the accused gave the victim a chain of beads and asked him to chant a mantra. The accused also pressured the victim into giving the cellphone and password and said that it was downloading a ‘compass’ application on the phone ‘to get information about the victim’s ruling planets (grahas)’.
Police said the accused later told the victim that there were serious ‘flaws in his planets,’ and that he will give supernatural remedies to these flaws. A few days after this, the accused called the victim to his place and sexually assaulted him. A week later, the victim was asked to perform a sexual act by keeping the app–previously downloaded on his phone–open during the act, claiming it was for ‘identifying flaws in his planets.’
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During this period the accused also took Rs 15,000 from the victim as a donation. Meanwhile, the victim got to know that one of his distant relatives had approached the accused and had given him access to the phone to download the same application. The relative had also been sexually exploited in the same manner. After realising that he had been cheated and sexually exploited under the garb of supernatural remedies, the complainant approached the police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Bapu Bangar said: “The 29-year-old accused Prasad Bhimrao Tamdar has started a centre offering supernatural remedies to his followers for their problems. He used to tell people that there are flaws in their planets and that he would give remedies for that. The accused used to download an application on the victims’ cell phones which would enable remote surveillance and access. He used to ask them to perform sexual acts in front of the phone.
“He has been booked for cheating, sexual harassment along with provisions of the anti-superstition legislation and the IT Act. The accused has been arrested. We are making an appeal to people to come forward and approach Bavdhan police station if they have been exploited and defrauded by this accused.”
Police have invoked the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013 and Information Technology Act along with sections 318 (4) (cheating) and 75(1) (sexual harassment) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
