Maharashtra: 19-year-old tantric claimed he can bring back dead; held

API Waghmare with tantric Borale

In a bizarre incident, a 19-year-old tantric claimed he could bring back the dead and tried to fool villagers by using his fake supernatural powers on a jawan with the home guards department, who had fainted for a few hours. Like the climax of a failed filmy plot, the tantric was arrested by the police and booked under the anti-superstition law.

On October 26, home guard Prashant Mesare, 28, fainted in a temple in Akola's Vivra village. His brother Gopal rushed him to a hospital, and shared the news with the local tantric, Deepak alias Sagar Borale, 19. With his convincing powers, Borale got Mesare's family to shift him back to the village temple from the hospital. He then pronounced Mesare dead, prohibited anyone from touching the body, and claimed he would bring Mesare back to life, as he "could feel" the soul refusing to leave.

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The news spread like wildfire. Hundreds gathered to see the miracle and when Mesare did open his eyes, cheers of happiness could be heard far and wide. The plot twist occurred when Channi police station incharge, Assistant Police Inspector Yogesh Waghmare went to pay his last respects to the family. "But en route the village, I got a call about the tantric's claims," Waghmare said.

Upon arrival, the police took Mesare aside to ascertain the turn of events, but he remembered nothing. The hospital informed the police that Mesare had fainted due to dehydration and was only given saline water. A recheck with the primary health care centre concluded weakness. "We understood the mischief. Borale spilled the beans when we asked him to perform the miracle on another dead man," Waghmare said. Borale was booked under sections of The Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013 Sandeep Ghuge, Superintendent of Police Akola, blamed high illiteracy in the village for the incident. "If this ‘miracle' continued, the 19-year-old would have been hailed as a powerful godman."