In what appears to be an Indian version of the Josef Fritzl of Austria, the cops have arrested a businessman from Mira Road in Thane district for raping his two daughters. A tantrik too was arrested on charges of raping the two girls along with the businessman’s wife, for being part of the conspiracy.

Hasmukh Rathod (55), the practitioner of black magic, has picked up late on Wednesday night – after the interrogation of the couple, Kishore Chavan (50) and Anjana (46). The two girls, aged 21 and 15, are in a state of shock – and Mira Road police confirmed that they have recorded their statements.

The family resides at the Phase-1 of the Golden Nest locality on the Mira-Bhayender Road, located nearly 40 kms from downtown Mumbai. Even the neighbours were not aware of what was going on since the last several years. The businessman owns a small unit at Andheri, where he manufactures radium plates for automobiles.

“We are carrying out the investigations in detail. It was going on since 2000,” said Mukund Mahajan, Senior Inspector of Mira Road police station. The tantrik, stays in Andheri, and is a family friend of the couple, had advised the girls’ father that raping her would bring prosperity.

The elder of the girl’s ordeal began in 2000 when at the behest of the tantrik, the man started raping her repeatedly. The tantrik also used to rape her. Since the last couple of months, the tantrik started raping the man’s 15-year-old daughter, the younger of the two sisters. While the older daughter used to help her father in the business, the younger one studies in a school.

While the older girl suffered keeping mum, she mustered courage after the same started happening to her sister – she complained to her grandmother and maternal uncle. “The accused should be hanged,” said an agitated Vijay Parmar, who helped the girls in filing complaint with the police. The mother of the girls was a witness to the events since the last several years.

Additional Superintendent of Police Sashikant Mahavarkar is personally supervising the investigations. “The three accused would be grilled thoroughly,” a senior police official said, adding that they would widen the scope of probe and would like to know whether the tantrik has given similar advise to others as well. The official also pointed out that initial investigations have revealed that the father was short tempered and neither his wife nor the girls could resist.