Ashok Jadeja

This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions may be available. (November 2009)

Ashok Jadeja (born on 1 June 1974),^[1] popularly known as Ashok Maadi and Mataji Ashok, is a self-proclaimed 'Godman',^[2] who has been accused of swindling money from thousands of people from across India by claiming to have the divine blessings of a goddess of a local caste in Ahmedabad.^[3][4][5]

Method

Jadeja would sit outside the Shikoter Mataji temple in Ahmedabad and tell people that if they kept their money with him, the goddess would make them wealthy. His initial targets were women known to be followers of the goddess Vahanwati Sikotar Mataji. Claiming divine powers, he would invite them to participate in religious rituals and then lure them into contributing whatever they could. In order to gain his target's confidence, Jadeja would initially pay back three times the amount given to him. Reports initially suggested he accumulated more than twenty crore in three states with the help of approximately thirty-five accomplices.^[2] This amount changed to thousands of crores which was given to accomplices and used to purchase gold and real estate investments in Gujarat and neighboring areas.^[6]

Arrest and aftermath

He was arrested on May 31, 2009 with his wife Neeta and Rs.1.98 crore.^[7] On June 3, 2009, ten relatives were apprehended by police from the Kunwara village in the Patan district of North Gujarat for their alleged involvement with his scheme.^[8]

On June 10, 2009, a local court in Gujarat granted the criminal investigation department permission to conduct a narco test on Jadeja. Police officials from neighboring Rajasthan, Maharashtra and other parts of the country came to Gujarat to interrogate him and his associates.^[9] On July 24, 2009, Jadeja admitted that he had no godly or mystical powers. In addition, he also revealed that some policemen and bootleggers had also benefitted from his "money-multiplying scheme". He stated that he personally earned Rs 20 crore and that many others had made more than him.^[10] Restoration of the funds to the victims is unlikely.^[6]

Notes