New Delhi: Mumbai’s Malad East witnessed a shocking development recently. The police have arrested a man named Rhythm Panchal alias Monty for allegedly duping hundreds of people in the name of religion. Until 4 years ago, the man was a gym trainer, then one day he suddenly woke up to become a ‘tantrik’, and claimed to have magical powers and exorcise spirits.
He claimed to have cures for people’s diseases and problems. In return for solving the problems that his followers narrated to him, he demanded goat liver, chickens, liquor and cigarettes. He was popularly known as ‘Monty Baba’ among his followers.
Mumbai Police arrests ‘Monty Baba’
The Mumbai Police have now arrested this fake Baba, following complaints from over 60 people. He has been arrested by the Dindoshi Police. The most surprising thing in this case is that the man used to perform his fake ‘tantric kriyas’ and ‘Aghori Kriyas’, not in some hidden place but in an open park, owned by the municipal corporation.
According to reports, the man used to start performing his ‘tantric kriytas’ in the evening hours and this would continue for the whole night. So basically it was a ’12-hour ritual’.
The man used to demand strange things from his followers. He used to convince them that in order to rid them of their problems, they needed to bring goats heart and sometimes ashes from the crematorium. He used to hold a ‘darbar’ every Thursday and Saturday from 8 pm to 7 am for his followers.
The locals began to suspect his activities, when he started demanding expensive liquor and cigarettes from them. He was seen with a lit cigarette in his mouth, while performing the rituals. When some of his followers began questioning his powers and rituals, he threatened them. He even sent goons to their homes.
Complaints of sexual exploitation, financial exploitation surface
However, some of the locals approached Advocate Siddharth Sharma, a former BJP corporator and told him all about ‘Monty Baba’. They gave accounts about his night activities and how he told his followers that he was possessed while smoking.
When people came to know that a lawyer was looking into the case, many others came forward with their accounts. The testimonies revealed a web of lies, wherein people had not only been exploited financially, but also there were instances of sexual abuse.
The police began investigations and found that the man was a fake, who just cheated people. Panchal has now been arrested and is set to be produced in court. The police are now trying to establish whether the man acted alone or were there others involved in the entire fake setup.