‘Fortune tellers’ rob 18-yr-old of gold jewellery worth Rs30.5L

Kolhapur: A young man, the son of an artisan, was on his way to deliver about 305g of gold jewellery (worth Rs30.5 lakh) to a jewellery shop when he was stopped by two 'fortune tellers’. They told him he had a bright future and asked him to chant god’s name and walk a short distance towards a vehicle parked nearby. All was well, until 18-year-old Shubhodit Samir Patra turned around to find that the men had fled. Gone with them was the bag containing the jewellery he had handed over to the duo before unsuspectingly following their instructions and walking away.The incident occurred around 6.30pm on Thursday and was captured on CCTV cameras installed along Bhausingji Road, one of the city’s busiest stretches.According to police, Patra, a resident near Rankala Tower, had been asked by his father to deliver the jewellery.Kiran Londe, police inspector of Juna Rajwada police station, said, “We have deployed teams to check all CCTV cameras installed along the route taken by the two unidentified people after they escaped in an autorickshaw. We have their physical attributes and photographs captured in CCTV footage.”Shubhodit later told police that he followed their instructions after the two men had hypnotised him.