'Naga babas' under police scanner, 5 detained in Bhubaneswar 

A day after six miscreants in the guise of 'naga babas (sadhus)' looted gold ornaments from a house in Patia area of Bhubaneswar where they were invited as guests, police detained a group of five naga babas on Monday. 

The detained babas claimed that they were in no way associated with the miscreants’ gang and that they are sadhus from Uttar Pradesh and have come to Odisha on a visit. 

They alleged a person invited them to his house, then informed the police and handed them over to the cops. 

After the incident of six miscreants posing as naga babas taking a resident of Raghunathpur village in Patia area for a ride and decamping with gold ornaments, people have become more cautious and alert. When a person spotted this quintet moving in an SUV, he suspected them. He devised a plan and invited them to his house. Later, he called the police to inform them about the presence of naga sadhus, leading to their detention. 

“He asked us to sit, saying he would treat us with food. He called the police instead and handed us over to the police,” said a member of the group. 

There are many similarities between the group that looted ornaments on Sunday and the group that was detained on Monday. While the first group comprised six members, the second was a quintet. While the first group was moving in an SUV, the second was also moving in an SUV. While the SUV used by the first group bore an Uttar Pradesh registration number so is the van of the second group. 

Police said all the stations have been alerted about the movement of such miscreants. The Commissionerate Police too has contacted the Uttar Pradesh Police to collect information about the detained so-called sadhus. 

“We are investigating to find out the purpose of their visit. We would like to advise people not to entertain such suspicious-looking people. If they spot any such people, they should immediately inform the police,” said Sudhir Kumar Sahu, IIC, Mancheswar Police Station.