Astrologer dupes senior citizen promising cancer cure

Surat: A 66-year-old man who worked as a diamond broker has been cheated of Rs 29 lakh by an astrologer who promised him to cure him of his cancer and also told him that he would help him get the money buried in his plot. But after getting the money for some rituals, the accused shut his ‘Devikrupa Jyotish’ office in Vesu and fled.
Vesu police have booked Babulal Shastri alias Umed Joshi and his two aides — Shakti Narayan and Vinay — for cheating and conspiracy.The victim’s son-in-law, a diamond trader in Varachha, filed the police complaint.
As the case goes, the victim told his son-in-law in Nov last year that he was planning to get a tantrik ritual done by Shastri. He asked his son-in-law to transfer Rs 1 lakh to a number through GPay as he did not use UPI.
The son-in-law transferred the amount to a number given by the victim. After one and a half months, the victim told his son-in-law yo accompany him to Pushkar in Rajasthan for the tantrik ritual.
In Dec 24, both reached Pushkar. There, the victim called Shastri for the ritual. Shastri told him to pay him Rs 6 lakh for it. However, the victim could pay only Rs 57,000 to the person Shastri had sent to him. After collecting the money, Shastri called the victim and told him to take bath for the next of the ritual. After taking bath, the victim and his son-in-law waited at a temple. When no one turned up, the victim called Shastri who told him that the ritual was not possible as he did not pay him Rs 6 lakh. He also told the victim to collect his Rs 57,000 from his office.
However, when the victim tried to contact Shastri in Surat, he was not reachable. He also found his ‘Devikrupa Jyotish’ office shut.
After returning to Surat from Pushkar, the son-in-law asked the victim how he had come in contact with this astrologer. The victim told him that he had come to drop his friend at Dumas in Oct 2023. When he was going back, a man standing on the main road sought help.
The man asked the victim to drop him a few metres away and sat in his car. When the person saw the victim’s odd face, he asked him about it. The victim told him that he had been operated upon for mouth cancer. Immediately, the man gave the reference of his ‘Guruji’ to and took him to Shastri’s office in Vesu.
After reaching there, Shastri promised him to cure the victim of his cancer. He also asked the victim about his property and land. When the victim told him that he owns land in village, Shastri immediately told him that there was money buried in that plot and he would help him get it after a tantrik ritual.