Elderly man duped of ₹4.5 lakh by fake Naga Sadhu in Sola, Ahmedabad

A 75-year-old retired man in Sola, Ahmedabad was allegedly cheated of gold jewellery worth ₹4.5 lakh by two men posing as a driver and a ‘naga sadhu’ under the pretext of giving him blessings near Sagar Sangeet Heights, Sola, on Wednesday morning.

As per the FIR lodged by Kiritbhai Nathalal Patel, a resident of Sola, the incident occurred around 9.30 am on October 22, while he was heading towards Nilgiri Circle on his scooter.

Patel told police that a silver-coloured car stopped him on the road, and the driver, a man aged between 35 and 40, asked for directions to a temple, saying that a ‘Bawa from Ujjain’ had come to visit the Shiv Mandir.

“When I approached the car to show the way, a man sitting inside, completely naked and wearing a black cloth around his neck, placed both my hands on the car door and gave me a ₹500 note, saying it was a blessing,” Patel stated in his complaint.

The complainant added that the car drove away soon after, and it was only then that he realised his two-tola gold Rudraksha rosary with gold-plated beads (worth ₹2 lakh) and a two-tola gold ring with nine small diamonds (worth ₹2.5 lakh) had been taken. The total value of the stolen items is estimated at ₹4.5 lakh.

Patel approached the Sola High Court Police Station the next day to register his complaint, stating that the accused took advantage of his trust and age by pretending to seek directions and blessings.

Police have registered a case against two unidentified persons for cheating and theft and are examining CCTV footage from the area to trace the silver car involved in the incident.

An officer from Sola High Court Police Station said, “The modus operandi appears to be a classic distraction technique, where fraudsters pose as religious figures to deceive victims. Efforts are on to identify and apprehend the accused.”