Fake baba pulls off ‘Vikramarkudu’ style con act in Hyderabad, arrested
The Hyderabad police arrested a man in what looked like a film-like con act in which he disguised himself as a ‘baba’ and cheated a woman
HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad police on Sunday arrested a man in what looked like a film-like con act in which he disguised himself as a ‘baba’ and cheated a woman. The incident happened in Indraprastha colony under the LB Nagar police station limits.
The accused, whose name was not immediately known, targetted a house after realising that the woman inmate, Chikatla Vara Lakshmi, was alone. Claiming to be a baba from Srisailam, he brainwashed the victim, saying that her house was affected by ‘naradishti’ (evil effect).
The woman, who believed the accused, allowed him inside the house. The accused pretended to be performing a ritual, tricked her into removing her gold mangalasutra and made her place it before him. Later, he sent her inside asking her to bring some turmeric and then decamped with the gold chain
The woman soon realised that she was taken for a ride by the assailant and lodged a complaint at the LB Nagar police station. The police, with the help of CCTV camera footage, arrested the accused and recovered the stolen item.
The con act of the fake baba caused sensation as it resembled an episode from the popular film Vikramarkudu, directed by S S Rajamouli. In the film, hero Raviteja, who plays a thief with comedian Brahmanandam as his partner in his crimes, dupes a woman. He brainwashes a woman to have her head tonsured with a ‘sacred knife’ from Tirupati to become richers by several lakhs of rupees.
As the unsuspecting woman falls for his bait, he sends her into a trance while tonsuring her head. As she is lost in her own world with her eyes closed, he relieves her of her gold jewellery and flees the place besides leaving her with a half-shaven head. Except the half-shaven head idea, the fake baba in the Indraprastha Colony incident, followed every bit of the filmy con act to the hilt. He however could not escape the dragnet of the police for long like the protagonist in the film. Apprehended in quick time, he is now cooling his heels behind the bars.