On Saturday (2nd March), Thane police (crime branch) revealed that they have arrested 7 accused including Wazir Sheikh alias Yusuf Baba for running a sextortion racket under the guise of a false godman. The accused used to lure the women with false promises and asked them to remove their clothes to get their desired results. The secretly filmed videos of these women would later be used to blackmail them and extort money from them. The gang deceived 17 women before getting nabbed.
Saheblal Wazir Sheikh alias Yusuf Baba used to work with a gang, that used to trap innocent and poor women and girls living in bad circumstances. First, a woman or a girl was brought to Yusuf Baba by saying that he would end all the troubles, he would get a huge amount of money for them, and he would make them rich.
Yusuf Baba used to talk about performing some rituals in the name of black magic. In this ritual, women would be asked to remove their clothes and get naked. Then the self-styled Baba godman Yusuf Baba would claim that a soul had descended upon him and asked him to have physical relations with the women. He would claim that by doing this, that soul would be satisfied and would rain money for these women. Trapped women would be forced to do so. The entire incident would then be videographed. These videos would be used to blackmail the women and extort money from them.
The racket was exposed when the police were looking for a 5-year-old girl from Rabodi in Thane who went missing a few days ago. The investigation led to the arrest of two persons, identified as Aslam Khan (age 54) and Salim Shaikh (age 45) on 25th February. They revealed the details of this sextortion racket of Yusuf Baba who was arrested later.
Inspector Krishna Kokni of Thane Crime Branch Unit I said, “We believe this gang, which includes two women, ensnared at least 17 persons. The seven arrests were made from Thane, and Vasai in Palghar and neighbouring Mumbai. Our probe found that Yusuf Baba and his associates lured financially vulnerable women by promising them riches through black magic. Some of the rituals included the participation of women in the nude.”
He added, “A case of kidnapping, rape, cheating and other offences under IPC has been registered with Rabodi police station and further probe into this racket is underway. The accused have also been charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act 2013.”