BENGALURU
A cunning thief disguised as a holy man cheated a couple and stole gold worth Rs 1.2 lakh in Heggadadevanpura. The trickster targeted a pregnant woman, warning her about a deadly curse on her family. He promised to perform a free prayer to remove the evil. During the ritual, he asked the couple to place their gold jewelry inside a clay pot. Sending them to fetch water, he swapped the pot with a fake one packed with stones and ran away. The couple soon discovered the fraud and informed Madanayakanahalli police, who started searching for the culprit.