Maharashtra: Tantrik, driver held for Sangli killings

The Sangli Police has solved the mystery behind the deaths of nine members of the Vanmore family with the arrest of a tantrik and his driver. The family was earlier thought to have killed themselves in a suicide pact, A car seen in a CCTV camera footage close to the residence of the victims led the police to change their line of investigation. The accused have been identified as Abbas Mohammad Ali Bagwan, 48, who killed his wife in 2012, and his driver Dheeraj Chandrakant Survase, 30. On June 20, the police had recovered nine bodies of the Vanmore family in two different houses in Mhaisal village. A suicide note was found and subsequently, 13 were arrested.

Also read: Maharashtra: Twist in Sangli case, two held for poisoning family of nine to death

Sources in the police told mid-day that while going through CCTV footage, they noticed a white WagonR coming out of the village. "We contacted many people in the village, but none of them could identify the car," said a senior crime branch officer, on condition of anonymity. "We scanned CCTV cameras to track the route that the car had taken to reach Solapur district," said the officer. On the basis of this, they arrested Bagwan, a self-proclaimed tantrik, and Survase. "Bagwan had duped the deceased of R1 crore on different occasions to conduct some puja. All the money was transferred to the bank account of Bagwan's sister, who is on the run at present," the officer said. "In a bid to meet the demands of the tantrik, the Vanmore brothers had taken a loan from money lenders who were asking them to repay. The family had been pressurising the tantrik," said the officer.

The tantrik then hatched a plan to eliminate the Vanmore family. "He asked the brothers to write names of those who they have taken loans from and also mention what their lenders said regarding the repayment of loan. He told them that he would perform a puja, so that they would stop demanding the money."

The brothers followed the instructions of the tantrik and handed over the notes. "He told them that he would conduct a ritual each at their residences. On June 19, Bagwan reached the first house along with his driver Survase," he added. The family members were offered some poisonous liquid to consume during the rituals, which killed them instantly. The investigators have also recovered copies of the alleged "suicide notes".