A bizarre incident in India has left police investigating an alleged black-magic ritual in which a man reportedly used a photo of a High Court chief justice in the hope of securing bail for his jailed relative. Police say the man was inspired by a video claiming that such a ritual could help get an accused person released from prison.
Police in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, have detained a man and launched an investigation after he allegedly performed a black-magic and tantric ritual using a photograph of the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court in an attempt to secure bail for his relative.
The incident came to light in the village of Deori when villagers spotted four people behaving suspiciously and carrying out strange activities at a cremation ground during the night between Friday and Saturday. Suspecting something unusual, the villagers alerted the police.
Before officers arrived, three of the men managed to flee after being spotted by the villagers. However, the villagers caught one man, identified as Rishikesh Kumar, and handed him over to police.
Police recovered several items allegedly being used in the ritual, including a fish, lemons, vermilion and a photograph of Chhattisgarh High Court Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha.
They also found a photograph of Priyanshu Bole, an accused person arrested in a stabbing case, as well as a photograph of the alleged victim in the same case.
During questioning, Rishikesh reportedly told police that his relative, Priyanshu Bole, was in jail in connection with a stabbing case. While one accused in the case had already been granted bail, bail pleas for the other accused were still pending before the court.
According to police, Rishikesh had watched a video by a tantric practitioner claiming that performing such a ritual could help an accused obtain bail from the court. Influenced by the video, he went to the cremation ground at night with three friends to carry out the ritual.
Bilaspur Superintendent of Police Rajnesh Singh said that performing witchcraft or black magic could never secure bail for anyone, urging offenders to focus on reforming themselves rather than relying on superstition.
Police said further investigation is underway to identify the other people involved in the ritual and determine their exact role and motive.
