Shocking details of alleged multiple rapes, extortion and cheating cases against a dismissed policeman-turned-godman have baffled Thane Police investigating the long list of complaints filed by the victims in the last few weeks.
The Thane city Kalwa Police had arrested the dismissed police constable Gokul Jadhav for allegedly raping a housewife on the pretext of removing evil spirits troubling her domestic life. His wife Ashwini and son Anirudh allegedly filmed the sexual assaults and later blackmailed the victim.
“Several victims have come forward with complaints of sexual assault, extortion, blackmail and cheating against the fake baba. Both father and son have been arrested while the wife is absconding,” a senior police official confirmed.
Jadhav was earlier posted in the Z security detail of the Navi Mumbai strongman and then revenue minister Ganesh Naik when he was arrested by Kharghar police in 2010 for running an extortion racket.
Jadhav recruited bar girls to trap young solo drivers on the Mumbai-Pune expressway to ask for a lift and ask them to halt at pre-determined spots where he would lay in wait while the woman would scream rape. The policeman would intervene and threaten to book the driver in a rape case and extort cash, jewellery and watches to “settle” the case. He was arrested and dismissed from police service after departmental enquiry confirmed his involvement in several cases.
“He donned a new role of godman and turned into a baba offering quick solutions to financial problems, legal disputes and domestic issues. His wife and son were actively involved in the racket,” added the Thane police officer.
Spiked “prasad” and “holy water”
Another college student victim filed a complaint against Jadhav and his son of sexual assault when she was a minor in 2021 during the pandemic. Her mother was a devotee of Jadhav and refused to accept that the godman could misbehave and sexually assault the minor girl. The victim has further alleged that the fake godman used to spike the “prasad” and “holy water” offered to female devotees to sexually abuse them while his son and wife secretly filmed the acts for blackmail. The college student has alleged that her mother was also raped and blackmailed by the father-son duo and traumatised so much by the harassment that she relocated to Rajasthan.
Promises of shower of cash
A scrap trader was similarly duped of ₹50 lakhs with promises of “paisa ka baarish” (shower of cash) to overcome financial losses, while another family has complained of Jadhav taking golden idols and accessories as offering for a special “kal sarp dosh” to appease the snake gods.
The police interrogation of the fake godman has led to several shocking revelations of rampant sexual abuse of victims, including policewomen and government employees who turned to Gokul Jadhav for quick solutions to their problems. “He manipulated the victims and gained their confidence with glib talks. The gullible victims were blackmailed after being sexually abused and raped. The vicious cycle continued for long,” claimed another police officer.
