Rajkot: Gujarat police have arrested a 29-year-old man for allegedly performing rituals in a crematorium and sharing a video on social media, claiming he had supernatural powers, an official reported on Friday.

This arrest marks the first case under the newly enacted Gujarat Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil, and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act. The accused, Ashwin Makwana, was arrested on October 15 after the video, recorded in Dhoraji town, Rajkot district, went viral.

The video in question shows Ashwin Makwana, a sanitation worker, performing rituals in a crematorium in the Kumbharwada area, circling a pyre and lying on it while reciting incantations. He posted the video on Instagram but later deleted it after it went viral on WhatsApp. Although offences under the new Act are cognizable and non-bailable, a local court granted him bail the next day.

Inspector RJ Godham, who filed the first information report (FIR), confirmed that this is the first FIR registered under the new law, which came into effect on September 2. When attempting to upload the FIR, the police discovered that no code had yet been assigned to the new law, further proving that no previous cases had been filed under it. The law was enacted after the Gujarat Assembly passed a bill on August 21 to combat black magic and superstitious practices.

Makwana allegedly performed the ritual publicly to prove his alleged powers and to respond to those who had mocked him in the past. DeshGujarat