Udupi: Fake fakirs decamp with gold, cash and mobile in broad daylight

Kapu: In two separate incidents, thieves dressed as fakirs fled with jewelry and mobiles in Katpady on Wednesday. The daylight theft has shocked the locals.

In the first instance, three fake fakirs arrived at a house belonging to a Muslim person at Katapady Yenagudde village singing songs and attracting the attention of the residents of the house. When the woman of the house came out to see the commotion, the three allegedly used some incense made from an unknown substance to hypnotize the woman to hand over the jewelry she was wearing and the cash in the house to the tricksters. The woman claimed that she came to her senses after some time and noticed that theft. But the trio had fled from the spot.

The three also stole a mobile phone from a local shopkeeper. One among the thieves purchased materials worth about Rs 1000 from Adi Shakthi Fertilizer shop just to gain the trust of the owner. Then the thief borrowed the mobile phone of the owner, Uday Shetty, for accessing a WhatsApp number to get the prescription for the medicine. With the mobile phone in hand, the imposter went to the medical shop and disappeared from the spot. Only then did the owner realize that he had been cheated and had lost the phone worth Rs 18,000.

Both the incidents took place on the same day only a few hours apart in the same locality.  The visuals and movements of the imposters were extensively shared on social media.

Though a search has been launched, the three fugitives were untraceable. Meanwhile, a case has been registered at the Kaup police station about the thefts.