Occultist held for murdering three in ‘dhanvarsha’ ritual in Delhi

Days after three bodies were recovered from a car parked under a flyover in west Delhi, in what initially appeared to be a case of suicide, the police on Wednesday (February 12, 2026) arrested a 72-year-old occultist for their murder. Kamruddin alias Baba, who ran a ‘Tantric Centre’ in Loni, Ghaziabad, confessed to mixing poison in the laddus he offered to the three and, as soon as they lost consciousness, made away with ₹2 lakh in cash and other valuables he had sought as part of a ritual to bring them a “dhanvarsha (rain of money)”.

The incident came to light when the Paschim Vihar (East) police station received a call on February 8 about three persons lying unconscious in a car parked under the Peeragarhi flyover. They were rushed to a hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival. The deceased were identified as Randhir, 76, from Baprola, Shiv Naresh, 42, from Nagli Dairy and Laxmi, 40, from Jahangirpuri.

According to the police, the three were not related but knew each other. “Laxmi was the first to be introduced to Kamruddin. She visited him with the hope of getting her ailing husband treated. But he tricked her into believing that he could multiply their money. She then introduced him to the two others,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Sachin Sharma.

While the police initially treated the case as one of suicide, they explored the murder angle after the victims’ families expressed suspicion over the circumstances in which the bodies were found.

Investigators recovered liquor bottles, cold drink bottles, empty glasses, mobile phones, cash, helmets, jackets, Aadhaar cards and other personal belongings from the car.

“Technical analysis revealed that there had been four, not three, persons in the car. On investigating further, we found that the victims had met Kamruddin on the day of the incident and that he had accompanied them on the way back from Loni, where he fed them poisoned laddus, along with liquor, which caused their death,” said the DCP.

The officer added that circumstantial evidence such as fingerprints has corroborated his presence in the vehicle. On checking his antecedents, the police found that he had been booked in two murder cases in Rajasthan (2014) and Uttar Pradesh (2025), where he had executed similar crimes — winning his victims’ trust, administering them poison and fleeing with their valuables.

A case of murder has been registered at the Paschim Vihar (East) police station, and further investigation is under way, said Mr. Sharma.