Are cops going easy on con artists exploiting superstition?

NEW DELHI: Several cheating gangs, who use elaborate schemes to dupe gullible people of their money, have been functioning in Delhi for the past couple of years.

Some of them dress up as police officers, tantriks, and salesmen to take people into confidence.

However, the most obscure gangs use ‘hypnotic methods' – as claimed by Delhi Police – to confound the victim's into doing their bidding.

However, when the socalled ‘hypnotic gangs' are busted, their supernatural façade takes a back seat, as vital facts of the case come to the fore.

These gangs use several techniques to fool common people, by setting up magic shows, posing as godmen and, sometimes, even in the garb of enforcement agencies.

However, instead of educating people of the cheating techniques, Delhi police is practically legitimising such superstitious practices by claiming that the victim's were hypnotised and the accused indeed had hypnotic powers.

The ‘hypnotic gangs' and their exploits have been frequent since 2013. In many such cases, victims reported they were dazed by a group of people and duped into parting with their belongings. Such cases were reported in Old Delhi, Chandni Chowk, Swaroop Nagar and Model Town area.

The South District police had taken up one such case and zeroed in on the Bawaria tribe.

The tribe was infamous in the late 80's and 90's for committing a series of gruesome murders. However, after strict action from police, the tribe adapted to a more sophisticated crime – cheating.

“They knew that violence would mean long-term prison sentences and they decided to adapt to cheating people as it used to yield a higher profit without the risk and trail of bodies,” said a police officer from South District.

Police successfully arrested five members of the gang, who had duped around hundred people in various parts of the Delhi. The gang would target women from affluent families, posing as CBI officials, metallurgists and goldsmiths.

The complainant in one such case, Laxmi Devi, had reported that she was approached by some men posing as CBI officials, who scared her into parting with her jewellery by claiming that she would be attacked by criminals. She had put all her belongings in a handkerchief for safe-keeping.

The exact sequence of events after this was hazy, as the woman could not recollect what transpired later and found that her jewellery was missing.

Instead of investigating the reason for the confusion, the police, in their official press release wrote: “Soon, the mystique of the coordinated spell had overawed her senses and when she regained herself, the cash and the gold ring was missing, along with the accused that had approached her.”

A second case was busted last year, which included four members of a ‘hypnotist gang'. The gang would organise magic shows on the roadside, targeting people from Delhi, Gurrgram and Noida in the morning hours.

They would claim that they would use magical powers to double the money and ask victims to give some money and take a few steps backwards without looking at the accused. When the victim would finally open their eyes, the gang would speed away in a car.

After the accused were caught, sources in Delhi Police told Millennium Post that the gang members would be blindfolded as police feared that they would be hypnotised.

“During the interrogation of this particular case, the gang member was blindfolded and bound and we waited for two hours before the questioning finally ended. Everyone was scared that they would be hypnotised,” said a police source.

Despite repeated calls, DCP (South) Ishwar Singh did not answer his phone.

Millennium Post contacted Delhi Police spokesperson Madhur Verma, who said: “This is not a case of hypnotism. The gangs use elaborate techniques to confuse the victims. The victim's are later unable to recall the face of the accused. I have not heard of any case where police officials have blindfolded the accused and interrogated them.”