MP: Posing As Baba, Thug Dupes Woman Of Gold Jewells On Pretext Of Healing Her 'Possessed' Husband

Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh): A thug allegedly posed as a 'Baba' and duped a woman of gold jewellery worth atleast a lakh of rupees in the garb of healing her husband in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur. The accused tricked the woman into thinking that her husband was possessed by an evil eye and that only a pooja (religious ritual) would cure him.

Bargi police registered a case on Tuesday and arrested the accused.

Bargi police said that Rakesh Sahu, husband of Poonam Sahu, a resident of village Devdwar Saliwada, met with an accident some time ago. Rakesh was admitted to a private hospital.

During this time, Poonam met Arvind Pandey, a resident of Bhedaghat Mirganj, through his acquaintance Shivraj Yadav. Arvind introduced himself as Baba and said that his husband is affected by evil eyes. He assured Poonma that a tantrik pooja (ritual) would heal her husband.

Poonam agreed. A few days later, Arvind came and asked for gold jewellery. Poonam went inside and brought three pairs of gold earrings, two gold necklaces, two mangalsutras, two gold rings, four gold bangles, two small silver anklets, and some more silver jewellery.

On the advice of Arvind, the woman tied all the jewellery to a red cloth. Arvind lit incense sticks on it, rotated it, and asked to keep the jewelry in the box. He also said that she should go to her parents' home and open it after 21 days; everything will be fine.

Later, the woman went to her maternal home. When the box was opened, it was seen that only a pair of anklets, a small thumb ring, and a coconut were kept in the pottery box. When she tried to contact Arvind, she could not connect. After which, the woman complained about the matter to the police. On which the police registered an FIR and arrested Arvind. The jewelry grabbed from the accused has been confiscated