The Manpada police arrested a woman recently for cheating her employer of Rs 15.87 lakh on the pretext of ridding his house of a ‘bad spirit’. Her accomplice was a tantrik.

The widower who lived in the central suburbs had hired a domestic help. This house help told the employer his home was possessed by a bad spirit and he would die soon. This scared the man, who agreed to her help to banish the spirit. Demands for money ensued with the woman even getting the help of an accomplice.