Pune IT Professional Cheated of Rs 13.2 Crore in Elaborate Healing Scam
In a shocking case that highlights the vulnerability of desperate parents, Pune city police have arrested three individuals, including a woman claiming to be a godman's daughter, for allegedly cheating an IT professional of a staggering Rs 13.2 crore. The accused promised to cure the victim's two ailing daughters through spiritual healing methods.
The Masterminds Behind the Elaborate Fraud
Police have identified the arrested accused as Vedika Kunal Pandharpurkar, Kunal Vaijanath Pandharpurkar - both residents of Mahatma society in Kothrud - and Deepak Janardan Khadke from Nashik. According to the FIR, two more family members including Vedika's mother and brother are also implicated in the case but remain at large.
The elaborate scam came to light when the victim, a highly qualified software professional working for a talent acquisition company, filed a formal complaint with Pune city police on November 3, 2025. Based on his detailed complaint, the Kothrud police station registered an FIR on Thursday, leading to the subsequent arrests.
How the Elaborate Scam Unfolded Over Years
The victim's tragic circumstances began when he and his wife moved back to India from England in 2010 to better care for their two daughters. One daughter suffers from a neurological disorder while the other has an autoimmune ailment, making proper medical care challenging in England.
The family's vulnerability became the perfect opportunity for the fraudsters. In 2018, the complainant's wife met accused Deepak Khadke at a bhajani mandal (devotional singing group). Learning about the family's medical struggles, Khadke introduced the couple to Vedika and Kunal Pandharpurkar.
Vedika Pandharpurkar made extraordinary claims that the spirit of a powerful godman would enter her body, enabling her to cure all ailments affecting the complainant's daughters. The suspects systematically gathered detailed information about the victim's income sources and properties before launching their financial exploitation.
The fraud began with requests for money to perform healing rituals through the spirits that supposedly possessed Vedika. As the scam progressed, the accused escalated their demands, claiming that various properties owned by the complainant - including his houses in the UK and Pune, plus agricultural land in his native village - had spiritual faults causing the family's problems.
The Systematic Financial Destruction
The accused convinced the desperate father to sell his properties and transfer the proceeds to them, claiming that the money from these sales could bring additional misfortune if he kept it. When the property money ran out, they persuaded him to take loans by mortgaging jewelry and relatives' houses to continue payments.
From 2018 until the recent complaint, the accused extracted approximately Rs 13.2 crore from the victim while providing no actual medical improvement for his daughters. The family finally realized they had been systematically cheated when no healing occurred despite the enormous financial sacrifices.
The case has now been transferred to the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Pune city police crime branch for detailed investigation. Deputy Commissioner of Police (EOW) Vivek Masal confirmed that all three arrested accused have been remanded to police custody for eight days by a local court while further investigation continues.
This case serves as a stark warning about fraudulent spiritual healers preying on vulnerable families facing serious medical challenges. Police are investigating whether the accused have targeted other victims using similar tactics.
