Man Arrested for Bringing People Together and Chanting Mantras on the Samruddhi Expressway to Prevent Accidents
According to authorities, a man has been charged with organizing a crowd at a location on the Samruddhi Expressway where a bus fire claimed 25 lives, constructing a “mahamrutyunjay yantra,” and repeating mantras to ward off accidents.
The anti-superstition organization Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti’s Hamid Dabholkar opposed to it and urged the authorities look into the situation.
On July 1, a private bus caught fire on the Samruddhi Expressway in the Buldhana region of Maharashtra, leaving 25 persons dead and severely burned.
According to the authorities, on July 23, Nilesh Adhav, a resident of Buldhana, assembled a group of people near the scene of the accident at Pimpalkhuta in the Sindkhedraja sector of the highway, where he built a “mahamrutyunjay yantra” and performed the “mahamrutyunjay japa.”
According to the authorities, Adhav deceived the public by claiming on social media that the “mahamrutyunjay yantra” would prevent any accidents within a five-kilometer radius.
The Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013, was filed against Adhav by the Buldhana police on Monday, and an investigation was ongoing.
Notably, an official had reported that over 80 people had died in traffic accidents on the Maharashtra Samruddhi Expressway in the previous six months.
