A 22-year-old man from Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra has allegedly been defrauded of Rs 3 crore over a span of six years by six individuals who allegedly claimed they could cure his mother’s illness through supernatural means, police said on Friday, reported the PTI.

The complainant, a resident of Nerul, reported that the alleged fraud occurred between 2019 and February 2025.

The accused, identified as Mustafa Shaikh alias Kamble, Aahat Shaikh, Safeena Nanu Shaikh, Nanu Shaikh, Wasim Shaikh, and Rafique Shaikh, are all residents of Saphale in Palghar district in Maharashtra, police said.

According to the complaint, the accused persuaded Tejas Ghodekar to part with Rs 3.10 crore in instalments, claiming they possessed spiritual powers capable of curing his ailing mother. Although Rs 19 lakh was eventually returned following persistent demands, the remaining Rs 2.91 crore was never repaid, as per the PTI.

When Ghodekar began pressing for the balance, the accused allegedly issued death threats against him and his family, and even forced him to sign blank stamp papers under duress.

Based on his complaint, police have registered a case under sections related to criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal intimidation, and common intention. They have also invoked the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013, which criminalises exploitation through superstitious practices, the news agency reported.

Meanwhile, in an another incident, the police in Maharashtra`s Thane district have arrested a history-sheeter involved in chain-snatching incidents and recovered stolen gold worth Rs 5 lakh from him, an official said on Friday.

The police zeroed in on the accused while probing into an incident in which a school teacher was robbed of her gold ornaments while on her way to work in Mumbra in the early hours of September 18, senior inspector Anil Shinde said.

The police identified the accused, Imran Aleem Khan alias “Toda”, (34) based on CCTV footage from the area, he said.

During interrogation, he confessed to the crime, and another chain-snatching case he was involved in was also detected, the official said.

The police have recovered gold ornaments worth Rs 5 lakh from the accused, he added, reported the PTI.

(with PTI inputs)

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