The Delhi Police arrested a Muslim occultist named Kamruddin on 11th February for killing two men and a woman by giving them poisoned laddus as part of a ceremony that promised them a windfall called “Dhanvarsha.” The arrest of Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad resident came days after three dead bodies were found in a car on the Peeragarhi flyover of Outer Delhi. The mainstream media outlets widely covered the news; however, they described Kamruddin as a ‘Tantrik’, giving the impression that the perpetrator is a Hindu.
Kamruddin promised ‘Dhanvarsha’, delivered death: Media headlines turned a murderer, Muslim occultist, into a ‘Tantrik’
The action against Kamruddin was taken by the Delhi Police after three people, identified as Laxmi, Randhir (76), (40) and Shiv Naresh (42), were found unconscious inside a white automobile in Peeragarhi, after which cops rushed to the scene and found out that they were dead.
During the investigation, it turned out that one of the victims, Laxmi, was in touch with an occultist. The probe revealed that Kamruddin had communicated with the deceased and had promised them cash benefits through certain ‘rituals’. Kamruddin had an accomplice named Salim, who introduced Laxmi, Randhir and Shiv Naresh to him. The Muslim occultist, or Aleem and his three victims recently met in Ghaziabad’s Loni.
The police said that Kamruddin persuaded the victims to perform a rite for “Dhanvarsha” and directed them to set aside 2 lakhs in cash for the ceremony, along with cold beverages and alcohol. Kamruddin then gave them poisoned sweets and took their cash.
While the criminal and his accomplice are both Muslims, a significant section of the mainstream media used the Hindu identifiers ‘Tantrik’ or ‘self-styled Tantrik’ for Kamruddin. Although the body of these news reports mentions the name of the arrested perpetrator, the headline and main content primarily use the Hindu identifiers, leaving their readers with the impression that the arrested occultist is Hindu.
In this vein, Hindustan Times published a report with the headline: “Tantrik held in Delhi triple murder was linked to similar crimes in UP, Rajasthan.”
An India Today report’s headline reads: “Tantrik arrested in Delhi car deaths linked to 5 more murders in UP, Rajasthan.”
Another leading newspaper, Indian Express, wrote the headline: “A tantrik who promised to double money — and served ‘poisoned laddoos’: Cracking the Delhi flyover triple murder.”
DNA India published a profile of Kamruddin, mentioning his name in the headline; however, it chose not to use the appropriate term and used the term ‘Tantrik’. “Who is Baba Kamruddin, Tantrik held in Delhi triple murder? How did he lure victims with poison ‘laddu’?” the headline reads.
Meanwhile, The Print also used the term ‘Tantrik’ and did not mention Kamruddin’s name in their report’s headline or excerpt. “Delhi cops crack triple murder. ‘Tantrik’ out on bail fed trio poisoned laddoos in name of prasad,” The Print report’s headline reads.
The Hindi media was no different, as they also followed the pattern of using misleading identifiers for the Muslim occultist.
In this vein, Aaj Tak headlined its report as: “पिछले साल डबल मर्डर, इस साल ट्रिपल…, दिल्ली के इस ‘तांत्रिक’ ने पहले भी लोगों को खिलाए हैं जहरीले लड्डू.”
Similarly, Dainik Jagran wrote, “ट्रिपल मर्डर का आरोपी तांत्रिक कौन? बचने के लिए लगाया था शातिर दिमाग; अब पुलिस की जांच में खुली क्राइम कुंडली.”
Muslim faith healers and occultists become ‘Tantriks’ in media headlines: Mainstream media conditioning people into associating occult-related crimes with Hinduism
This is not the first time that mainstream media has used misleading Hindu identifiers for Muslim occultists involved in criminal activities, including financial fraud, rape, and murder. There have been concerted attempts by many media outlets to not only conceal the names of Muslim perpetrators but also give them a Hindu spin to depict that the crime was committed by Hindus.
Over the years, OpIndia has on many occasions called media outlets for using Hindu identifiers for Muslim Pir or Aamils defrauding people in the name of Sihr (an Islamic term for Black Magic).
Back in 2020, a Moulvi named Aslam Faizi was arrested for raping a woman who was facing family issues, on the pretext of reconciling the woman with her estranged husband. After an FIR was filed in this case, several media outfits like ‘Nayi Dunia’, gave the entire incident a Hindu spin by describing the alleged rapist as “Tantrik”– a practitioner of the “tantra vidya“, who is mainly associated with Hinduism.
In 2019, NDTV attributed the death of a 10-year-old boy because of the rituals performed by a Muslim healer to a “Tantrik”, giving a Hindu slant to the headline.
There have been several times in the past when the media has resorted to such chicanery. As per a Hindu report, a woman had accused a “tantrik” of raping her in Ajmer, after taking her there on the “pretext of offering prayers at a Dargah“.
In one case, The Times of India had carried an article titled, “Tantrik gets 10 years in jail for rape and extortion”. Like the reports mentioned above, the name of the accused was “Warsi”.
Sometimes, the mainstream media also attempts creativity even in describing crime-accused Muslim occultists. In one such case, Dainik Jagran once called a Muslim accused named Aftab, in a harassment case, “Tantrik Sufi Baba” in the headline.
In one case, Hindi News18 in its article carried the headline, “Tantrik arrested for committing misdemeanour with a minor, under the pretext of chasing away ghosts”. In this case, the perpetrator was a Muslim man named Hafiz Sajid.
In May 2025, Dainik Bhaskar calleda Muslim faith healer named Mubarik Mansuri, who trapped and raped 40-50 women under the pretence of exorcisms and ritual healing, a ‘Tantrik’ in its report.
There has been an ongoing attempt to condition people into associating heinous crimes like sexual exploitation and black magic not with the actual perpetrators, but with the Hindu identity that the media implants in their minds. The deliberate habit of concealing or downplaying the Muslim identity of the crime-accused occultists or exorcists is also found in the case of Christian priests, who are often called pūjāris, subtly transferring blame and stigma onto Hindu figures.
Criminal or not, a Muslim Pir/Aleem/occultist cannot be called a Tantrik: Why media’s ‘tantrik’ labelling of Muslim occultists is outrageously problematic
Irrespective of the fact that a self-styled Muslim faith healer, exorcist or occultist is involved in crimes like sexual exploitation or black magic, etc., or not, they cannot, in any context, be described as ‘Tantriks’. The term ‘Tantrik’ cannot be turned into a religion-neutral identifier of occultists across all religions.
A Tantrik is someone who follows the teachings and practices outlined in the Tantras, which are a large body of Hindu scriptures. Some Tantriks belong to the Shaiv tradition, some to Shakt or the one where Goddess Shakti is the main deity, and other such Hindu traditions. While the mainstream media is reducing the term Tantrik to a religion-neutral synonym for criminal occultist, true Tantriks use Tantra Vidya for spiritual liberation through mantra, yantra, Kundalini, and other sacred practices. Contrary to the notion popularised by television dramas, movies, and media propaganda, is a sophisticated esoteric path rooted in Hindu scriptures, and not generic ‘magic’.
In fact, not all Hindu occultists are Tantriks, let alone Muslim occultists being Tantriks. Yet, the media houses indulge in sloppy, misleading and essentially anti-Hindu journalism. By using selective and misleading terminology, ‘Tantrik’ for Muslim or any other non-Hindu mystic, faith healer, occultist or exorcist, especially in crime-related reports, media outlets are deceiving readers by shaping perception.
Most of the time, people may not open and read the complete report. In fact, people usually form impressions from headlines and visuals. “Tantrik arrested for killing three people”, “Another Tantrik arrested for sexually exploiting women”, and similar headlines, especially in cases where the perpetrator(s) do not belong to Hindu religion, reinforce the stereotype that superstition-driven crime is a ‘Hindu problem’ wherein, both perpetrators and victims are mostly Hindus even as the ‘Jadu-Tona’, ‘Vashikaran’, ‘Jinn-manipulation’, and other such superstition-related crimes happen with Muslims are other non-Hindu communities as well.
In occult-related crimes, where the perpetrator essentially exploits the vulnerabilities of the victims and offers fake religion-based solutions, mentioning the correct religious identity of the accused is even more important. Not everything needs to be ‘secularised’.
Besides ideological biases, the offensive usage of the term ‘Tantrik’ in cases of Muslim occultists like Kamruddin indulging in criminal activities also reflects colloquialism and laziness. This laziness and insensitivity towards Hindu sentiments are not confined to media headlines but are also often found in police FIRs.
