24 July,2022 08:21 AM IST | Mumbai | Anurag Kamble
Bhanudas Sawant, Mahendra Nagnath, and Prakash Shinde were arrested from Sonala village in Buldhana
A gang of men, who masquerade as eunuchs and dupe unsuspecting residents of valuables, was arrested by the MIDC Police on Saturday. The three accused, who hail from Buldhana district, were produced in court and taken in police custody. They have been identified as Bhanudas Sawant, 29, Mahendra Nagnath, 37, and Prakash Shinde, 24. The arrest took place after Chakala resident, Alka Prajapati, filed a complaint with the MIDC police station.
According to the police, Prajapati's 20-year-old niece Varsha came to Mumbai from Gujarat to deliver her child on July 3. On July 6, when the mother-child duo was discharged from hospital, the family was accosted by four alleged transgender people who came to their house. In her complaint, Prajapati said, "They got enraged when we denied there was a newborn at home and demanded Rs 5,000."
The family told them that they wouldn't be able to offer more than Rs 500. The accused agreed, and asked for a plain white paper, rice and haldi-kumkum. "While chanting mantras, one of the accused asked for my mangalsutra and Varsha's gold pendent. They wrapped everything in the white paper and asked us to keep it in the home temple for seven days. We were asked not to open the paper or the child would fall ill," she said.
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When Prajapati unwrapped the paper on July 15, she was dumbfounded. There was only rice and the valuables amounting to Rs 51,000 were missing. The family then rushed to MIDC police station and lodged an FIR against four unknown transgender people. Senior Police Inspector Satish Gaikwad, who formed a team under inspector Deepak Surve and Assistant Police Inspector Hemant Phad, said, "We got hold of CCTV footage from the area. Meanwhile, we also got a lead from the Matunga police."
The three men were arrested from Sonala village in Buldhana. "About 40 people from the village dress up as women and pose as eunuchs to cheat others. They get addresses of recent mothers from maternity hospitals. We suspect more such cases to be unearthed," Gaikwad said.
