A man reportedly duped a senior citizen of Rs 30,000 in Pune by posing as a "fakir" (godman) and apparently swallowing his gold ring, which he said would rid the old man of all his problems!
And given their modus operandi, it seems like they used the name of revered saint Sai Baba and common sleight of hand — often practised by street magicians — to pull off the trick!
The incident happened when Arun Datir, the 64-year-old victim, was waiting on the pavement outside the Shri Shivaji Preparatory Military School near the Regional Transport Office in Pune to pick up his nephew, the Times of India reported.
Shirdi, Sai Baba and street magic?
"This is when two men dressed as 'fakir' came to me and asked for alms. I gave them a rupee thinking that they would go away," Datir, a resident of Vadgaonsheri, told the daily. He added that the duo, instead of going away, began talking to him.
"One of them asked me if I had visited Shirdi. When I told them that I had gone there about three times, he gave me a coin bearing 'Om' sign and a photograph of Sai Baba," Datir said. The other one then chimed in about how the senior citizen had lived a difficult life, he added.
"To rid me of all my problems, he took out a palm cast in metal from his bag and asked me to remove my gold ring and put the same on it... The suspect then murmured few words. He told me that 'baba' will now consume all your problems. With that, he picked up the ring and put it in his mouth," Datir further added.
He also claimed that he had no memory of how the ring got out of his finger and slipped on the metal palm. The shocking act made him lose his gold ring worth Rs 30,000 with all his problems staring him at his face, TOI reported.
Datir requested the 'fakir' to open his mouth. "I could not see the ring in his mouth. I thought the man swallowed my ring. I was helpless as it was not possible for me to get it back," he said, adding that the duo then left from the spot after which he registered a police complaint against them.
"I did not know what to do. After my nephew arrived, I immediately went to the Bund Garden police station and lodged a complaint against the duo," Datir said.
Bund Garden Police Sub-Inspector NV Baisane said that a complaint has been registered against the suspects under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. "We are checking the CCTV footage on the road to ascertain the suspects' identity," Baisane added.
Sleight of hand?
The facts as given by Datir might point to the unscrupulous duo having pulled a fast one on the old man with the help of some common sleights of hand practised by magicians.
One aspect of magic is misdirection, which seems apparent from how Datir said he does not remember how the ring got from his finger to the metal palm. Another part is how one of the fakirs apparently put the ring in his mouth and then it could not be seen anymore.
Both can be attributed to the kind of distraction that magicians use to keep the attention away from where the true magic is going in.
Thus, while the duo could have slipped the ring off Datir's finger while keeping him occupied with predictions as they held his hand, the one who apparently put the ring in his mouth may have only pretended to do so while concealing the ring in his hand and then elsewhere on his person.
That was why the senior citizen could have got the impression that the fakir had "swallowed" his ring: He believes he saw the man put the ring in his mouth, and then he could not see the ring in there.
