A man posing as a fortune teller warned a homemaker of an impending death in her family and made away with her gold jewellery and Rs 5,000 in cash.
Varadaraju, 67, a retired central government employee and resident of KPSC Layout, filed a complaint with the Jnanabharathi police. His 93-year-old father Ramagiri had died in the house on August 6.
The family lit a lamp outside the main door. They were painting and cleaning the house for the 11th day ritual.
Around 4 am on August 13, Varadaraju and his wife Sujatha were sleeping when a fortune teller paid them a visit. He said a person was already dead in the house and three more deaths were to follow.
After saying this, the man instantly left. Around 9.30 am the same day, the man returned when Sujatha was alone at home. Varadaraju was out shopping for the rituals.
The man scared Sujatha by telling her that there would be three more deaths in the house within a week and advised her that a puja had to be performed to stop the tragedy. He asked her for Rs 5,000 for the puja.
Hypnotic black tilak
According to the police complaint, Sujatha noticed a black tilak on the man’s forehead and felt she had been hypnotised into following his instructions.
Besides the cash, she also handed over two gold chains and two gold rings weighing around 60 grams to the fraudster.
The fortune teller, who introduced himself as Krishnappa, told Sujatha that he would return the jewellery the next day after performing the puja and gave his mobile number.
Sujatha informed Varadaraju about the incident when he returned home.
The couple kept calling his mobile number till August 15 but received no response. The phone was switched off.
Varadaraju lodged the complaint on August 20 after the rituals.
Varadaraju told DH that Sujatha got scared when the man mentioned deaths since she worried about her daughters and grandchildren.
“She is not sure or can explain how she obeyed his instructions after she saw the black tilak on his forehead. The fraudster was fair, aged between 40-45, and spoke fluent Kannada,” he said.