Pune Crime: Fake Islamic scholars dupe woman of Rs 39.6 lakh on pretext of performing rituals

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An 82-year-old woman from Pune's Nadpada was duped by two fraudsters who posed as Islamic scholars and promised to solve her family problems.

The complainant Aasma Abbas got in touch with accused Hanif Shaikh and Imran Sayyed through a friend as she wanted help in getting her grand-daughter married and addressing her daughter's marital woes.

As per an Indian Express report, Shaikh inspected Abbas' home and claimed that it was under an evil spell and he could help her get rid of it.

"He said that he was possessed by a genie which wanted him to carry out certain rituals to help the women. He subsequently sought money to conduct the rituals," said an officer.

When Abbas refused to pay, Shaikh threatened her of dire consequences as the genie would get upset. The woman then sold off and mortgaged her jewelleries to pay Shaikh.

Later, Shaikh brought another man to her house who he claimed had supernatural powers and can cause "money shower". She let them pray in her prayer room. After the prayer when she went to her room she saw "money shower." The accused collected the money and kept it in her cupboard.

They won her trust with such acts and kept demanding more money to perform rituals. Till January, she had paid Rs 39.6 lakh to the conmen.

However, when they demanded Rs 10 lakh more, she reached out to her relatives as she had run out of money. Her relatives visited her house and upon inspection found out that the notes from "money shower" are fake.

She, the, filed a complaint against the duo at Nagpada police station.

The two accused have been arrested under relevant sections of the IPC and the Black Magic Act, 2013.