Conmen disguised as saints dupe woman of gold worth Rs 5 lakh in Jamshedpur

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, Oct 26: In a shocking incident of deceit cloaked in spirituality, two conmen posing as saints duped a woman and her niece of gold ornaments worth around  Rs 5 lakh near Aahar Hotel on Mandi Road under Sakchi police station area on Saturday evening.

The victims, identified as Anita Devi and her niece Preeti, residents of Bhuiyandih Dhobi Ghat under Sitaramdera police station, had gone to the market for Chhath Puja shopping when they fell prey to the elaborate con.

According to the victims, one of the men, dressed as a sadhu, struck up a conversation with them, speaking about faith and purity.  He then convinced them to hand over their gold and silver jewellery for a so-called “metal purification ritual.” Trusting his spiritual façade, both women complied.

The sadhu reportedly blew over the ornaments and instructed them to walk 18 steps away as part of the ritual.

When they turned back moments later, both the fake saint and his accomplice had vanished.

Preeti told police that the second man had earlier pretended to participate in the same ritual, which made them believe the act was genuine. Realizing they had been duped, the distraught women rushed to the Sitaramdera police station to lodge a complaint. The incident occurred around 5 p.m. Police are now scanning CCTV footage from the Sakchi area to identify the culprits. Police  have urged the public to remain alert and avoid falling for such deceptive “spiritual” tricks.