Tantrik Who Tortured Children, 'Disco Baba' Arrested From Hyderabad's 'Occult Dens'

Hyderabad: A child is tortured with scalding hot water, another is in pain as his ears are poked and a third is nude, tied to a chair and kneeling down in a series of disturbing videos found in Hyderabad after police raided dens of "black magic" and arrested at least 16 con artistes on Tuesday.

Self-proclaimed tantrik Faiyaz Mehmood Ansari, 38, was arrested on the complaint of a man who alleged that his 12-year-old boy was kidnapped and tortured with the consent of his mother, who was allegedly misled. 

The father has said that Ansari tried to kill the boy. In one of the many incriminating videos found on a laptop at his home, the fake healer is seen pouring what appears to be boiling water on the legs of the child as he screams in pain. 

The boy's mother was allegedly present when he was pierced with a blade at multiple places on his body, physically abused and kept nude for hours. Ansari, the police said, had convinced her that evil spirits had possessed her son.

"There are about 30 videos of Ansari torturing naked children including a girl child. The videos show children tied up, pricked with needles...molten wax is poured on private parts and he is seen violating them, " senior police officer V Satyanarayana said.

Ansari reportedly migrated to Hyderabad from Maharashtra four years ago, and targeted gullible women and exploited them. He allegedly also cheated Non Resident Indians in Canada, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Qatar by offering occult counselling online. "Ansari has even claimed that he was trained by controversial cleric Zakir Naik. That still needs to be verified,'' said the officer.

35-year-old Anwarullah Khan, who calls himself "Disco Baba", was also among those arrested. Claiming to be a Unani doctor, he allegedly cheated scores of people by telling them that hidden treasure in their home was the reason for their illness. He would then pretend to perform rituals and produce gold biscuits and diamonds, all fake.

Khan was arrested on the complaint of businessman Syed Iftekar Hussan, who was cheated out of Rs 35 lakh. After his arrest, Khan was seen dancing in a glittery white costume in front of amused police officials and also a local lawmaker.