THANE: A
sex racket
operated by a self-styled foreign returned ‘godman’ and his aides was busted by the
Thane crime branch
where he allegedly sexually exploited women under the guise of providing them financial assistance by claiming to invoke spirits in his body who would shower money on them after the intercourse, officials informed.
The accused, identified as Mumbai resident - Saheblal Shaikh, popularly known as Yusuf Baba – along with his aides used to identify women in desperate need of money.
The accused used to call the women to his place and convince them that if they lied blindfolded and naked on a table in the dimly lit room and had sex with him, he could invoke spirits in his body, who would then shower money, if they were pleased. At times, if the victim complained that the cash was less, the godman used to claim the spirits may not have been pleased, said officials.
“The accused had filmed videos of his intercourse with few women in the past wherein his aides used to stealthily pour cash on them taking advantage of the dimly lit rooms. The godman used to work in Muscat in the 90’s decade and had returned to India following which he fell prey to a similar con and later decided to dupe others in similar fashion,” Shivraj Patil, deputy commissioner of police, crime, told TOI.
Patil said they stumbled upon the racket while tracing a minor girl who had gone missing from Rabodi area of Thane recently following which they got to know how she fell prey to the racket and subsequent arrests of the aides led the police to the godman who was arrested on Feb 29 under relevant sections of the IPC, POCSO among others.
“We found videos where the godman had apparently exploited around 17 women some of whom could be minors as well. We are investigating further to ascertain how many more women he may have exploited in similar fashion in the last several years. Further investigation in the case is going on,” informed Patil.
English (US) ·