Pune:
An unmarried woman was duped of over Rs10 lakh by 'witchcraft' allegedly by two Mumbai-based persons. The Kothrud police arrested the duo and the court on Wednesday remanded them in police custody until Friday.
The suspects were identified as Vaishnavi Sandip Ketkar and Nilesh Anant Moghe. The victim, Chitra Madhusudan Agashe (50) of Karvenagar, had lodged the police complaint.
According to the police, the duo duped Agashe of Rs10.31 lakh since September 15, 2006. Inspector of Kothrud police station, Chandrakant Ghodke, said Agashe, who resides at her parents' house in Karvenagar, got in touch with Ketkar through her mother, Meena Haldankar, an agent with the postal department.
Agashe asked Ketkar whether she had any solution for well-being of her family. The suspects won her confidence and told her to perform some witchcraft rituals. After the death of Agashe's father, Madhusudan, Ketkar allegedly pretended that Madhusudhan's soul had entered her body.
Ghodke said, "By pretending that the soul of Agashe's father had entered her body, Ketkar and Moghe duped Agashe of Rs7.97 lakh and gold ornaments worth Rs2.34 lakh."
Requesting 10 days' police custody, assistant public prosecutor, AV Ausekar told the court that the police needed to investigate the matter further as the cash and the ornaments are yet to be recovered. "The police need to investigate who are the other accomplices involved in the case and how many more persons have been duped by the duo," Ausekar told the court.
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