Seer who had vision of gold in Unnao fort loses leg

Didn't see that coming

Shobhan Sarkar, the seer who hit headlines last year after having a “vision” that tonnes of gold was buried beneath the Raja Ram Bux Singh fort in Unnao, has lost his leg after resorting to home remedies and going against doctors’ advice.

Sarkar’s vision had pushed the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) into weeks of laborious digging operations, which did not yield any significant result.

But chasing gold seems to taken a toll on the health of the seer, who is also diabetic.
A few days ago doctors amputated Sarkar’s leg, which got injured several years ago but was only treated with a hot stone, as it became infected and life-threatening.

Ignoring medical advice, Sarkar used to heat a stone and then tie it to his wounded leg, which had become swollen due to infection.

“Babaji ignored advice given by the doctors and continued to treat the wounded leg with herbs and other home remedies,” said a resident at the Ashram.

Sarkar, who commands considerable influence in the districts of Unnao, Kanpur and others, shot into limelight after his dream, which had become a topic of discussion in the country last year.

The ASI had to turn around shame-faced after weeks of excavation resulted in nothing. The lure of gold had made old temples and forts the target of “gold hunters” in Uttar Pradesh, endangering the lives of the priests. Several incidents of attempts to dig old temples in different parts of the state for hidden treasures had been reported, though nothing was found.