Saintala: Two looters in guise of saints looted a mobile shop owner of a mobile phone and cash at Saintala bank square in Bolangir district Monday.
The incident has been the talk the town for the looters devising a unique way to loot the shop.
According to Ramesh Sahu, the victim shop owner, an SUV stopped in front of his shop and two saints with matted locks, garlands of beads around their necks and tilaks on foreheads got down from it. They came straight to Ramesh’s shop and asked him for a glass of water. After emptying the glass, while blessing Ramesh for offering them water, one of them put a tilak of vermilion on his forehead and sprinkled holy ash on him. Then the second imposter asked him to show an android phone.
Ramesh showed him a phone worth Rs 11,490. Later taking advantages of Ramesh being inattentive to them, they managed to decamp from the spot with the mobile phone and money from the cash box.
After realising that he had been robbed of, Ramesh lodged a report at Saintala police station. Registering a case, the police have retrieved the footage captured in CCTV installed at Ramesh’s shop and launched an investigation. “Our efforts are on to nab the looters,” said Saintala SI Prasanna Naik.
PNN
