Tale of spirit busters

By Dillip Kumar Pradhan

They communicate with those who are never seen. They chase them in spine-chilling dark nights which we fear. It is not their profession but a strong passion that has prompted them to carry out such things with a sole objective of spreading awareness among the people.

[caption id="attachment_168009" align="alignleft" width="228"] Courtesy: IPT[/caption]

We are talking about the ghost hunters who are all game to hunt the ghosts and spirits rumoured to be at your locality or next door. Among many across the country, Sibangi Dash, a young science-educated woman, has been investigating the paranormal activities in Odisha and outside for the last one and half years.

Dash was initially scared of ghosts, but it vanished subsequently when she joined the Indian Paranormal Team (IPT) around two years ago. Since then, she has not stopped detecting the presence of spirits and driving them out of human habitation. Her team heals and cleanses the spirit dominated place through psychic and scientific medium.

“At one time I was also getting scared of scary image in the dark night. But, now I am communicating with the spirits and subsequently it has become a passion”, said Dash, who presently heads Bhubaneswar zone of IPT.

Being a woman, how can you deal with the spectre at midnight? She quickly retorts “Nobody else can make you fear till you expose your weakness”. Moreover, ghosts really do not want to make somebody scared. “As they cannot appear physically, they act in whatever subtle ways and people with a scary imagination get frightened,” she explained.

Of course, it is an revelation to know how ghosts can be communicative.

[caption id="attachment_168010" align="alignleft" width="271"] Akshai Sthalekar and Sibangi Dash planning before operation[/caption]

“Yes, it is possible. Meditation is the medium through which we ask the spirit to vacate a particular place”, Sibangi maintained.

She conducted some investigation with her team recently in Bhubaneswarand outside. Narrating about a recent operation, she said a paranormal team led by her carried out an operation at Palaspali area in Bhubaneswar. However, there was no presence of spirit there. “It was just a residual hunting and not spirit hunting”, she added.

“We started the operation at around 11.30 pm following information from the locals that a crying sound emanates from a burnt house. The members of the house were also charred alive there some days ago.

However, after hour long operation, we did not find the presence of any spirit”, she pointed out. The high pitch sounds like people’s cries are recorded by some natural materials used in the construction of building. These recordings emanate at a particular time. This is scientifically proven, Dash said.

Another event her team had at Jhunjunwala glass factory near Barang on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. They felt the presence of spirit there, but could not carry out any investigation due to ban on entry into the premises.

Like Sibangi, other members of the IPT have embraced the strange passion. The team has also its presence in Jharsuguda, Rourkela in Odisha and outside the state like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune.

[caption id="attachment_168011" align="alignright" width="345"] Paranormal team members at a spirit dominated place [/caption]

IPT was founded by Akshai Sthalekar from Pune with an aim to educate and make people aware about ghost activities. Whatever the experts earn from the operation is only for the maintenance and growth of the team.

IPT has a branch called Spiritual and Paranormal Investigations/Research Organisation (SPIRO) which does research on the outcomes of the investigations and then they discuss the findings with paranormal researchers and demonologists of UK, US and Australia.

The ghost hunters use some scientific gadgets to detect the presence of the sprit. They photograph and record the sound and activities by using these tools. “We carry some scientific items to investigate if there is actually any spirit present at the particular place or not”, Sthalekar said.

[caption id="attachment_168012" align="alignnone" width="2048"] (Pic credit: Sarada Krushna) IPT founder Akshai Sthalekar installing scientific gadgets to detect spirit[/caption]

Akshai elaborated about the scientific gadgets they use during operation.

Equipment used in investigation

EMF Detector (Cell Sensor): Used to measure the electromagnetic energy at a place. Also helps in communication with a spirit.
EVP Recorder: A specialized recorder to record the sounds of spirits.
IR Thermometer: Measures temperature of a certain point in the room which allows us to gather cold spots.
Motion Sensor: When a spirit passes through the field of this sensor, the alarm on this sensor goes off!
Laser Grid: Gives out a green laser covering a vast expanse. Any activity in this field will cast a shadow and can be seen on the camera.