A couple were booked by the police in Ahmedabad on Friday for allegedly stealing gold ornaments and cash worth Rs 9.88 lakh from their distant relative on the pretext of healing the pain in his leg.
In a complaint filed with the Ramol police station on September 6, Mohammed Zubair Mansuri (22), a resident of Jantanagar in Ramol, said that he had been suffering from severe pain in his leg for two years. He alleged that recently, his distant relatives Amreenbanu Mansuri and her husband Arbaaz Mansuri, residents of Sarkhej, claimed that they could heal him. Mohammed claimed that in a demonstration, the couple had poured some water on his legs and then thrown it out, making him immediately feel better.
When he sought to continue treatment, the couple visited Mohammed at his home repeatedly between May 17 and June 30 and charged Rs 80,000 to heal him.
According to the FIR, the couple would tie threads on his legs, conduct some rituals and leave. On June 15, the couple allegedly told Mohammed that there were several “unclean things” at his home and that they would need to purify the place. They asked him to send all his family members to another room.
Following this, the couple asked Mohammed to stay away from the keys to his home locker. They also suggested that the locker should not be opened for a month after the ritual.
According to the FIR, the Arbaaz accompanied Mohammed to another room while Amreenbanu continued with the rituals at the room which had the locker keys. Fifteen minutes later, Amreenbanu asked Mohammed to return to the room and the couple left the house saying that the rituals have been completed.
On July 22 and thereafter, whenever Mohammed called Amreenbanu to ask whether he could open the locker, she refused. Thinking something was amiss, on July 30, Mohammed opened the locker — that contained 243.71 gm of gold ornaments worth Rs 7.49 lakh and cash worth Rs 70,000 — and found it empty.
When confronted, Amreenbanu told him that “unclean things” had displaced his valuables but the same would be returned shortly. The FIR said Mohammed waited till September 6 when he filed a complaint with the police.
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