BENGALURU: A group of 10 youths, including five aspiring
gigolos, fell for an old trick in a conman’s book when they were allegedly cheated of Rs 25,000 each by a self-professed ayurveda practitioner; he promised them male enhancement and libido improvement. The quack took the money and never delivered the promised medicine.
Confirming the youths, from Kerala, had approached him, a Bengaluru police officer said the youths are in two minds about filing a complaint. “Unless they file a complaint we cannot proceed with a case,” the officer said.
The youths called on the officer on June 25, and the officer in turn attempted to contact the traditional healer on his mobile, but the phone has remained switched off. Police found the phone was purchased from Aluva taluk in Ernakulam district of Kerala.
The officer suspects the quack to be from Thiruvananthapuram, but operated out of lodges in Bengaluru. Five of the youths work in private companies, while the other three are MBA students in Benglauru. Two of the employed youths worked in Mysuru.
“One of my classmates developed some kind of skin allergy and he approached an allopathic doctor who prescribed an ointment that did not work well,” said one of student-victims. “A few days later, my classmate and I were sitting in a hotel near Koramangala when a man approached us with handbills which said he was an ayurveda practitioner.”
The student with the allergy asked the man whether he could cure him. “The man gave my classmate medicine and he charged Rs 700. The allergy vanished in a month,” the student claimed. He later took a friend, an asthma patient, to the practitioner and his medicine worked again. The victim said he and his friends, meanwhile, were drawn to messages about “gigolo business”. “They were doing the rounds on WhatsApp and Facebook and claimed that young men with good libidinal credentials could earn between Rs 10,000 and Rs 30,000 per night in Bengaluru,” he said.
The youths contacted the healer in the second week of June. He claimed he was in Kerala and would travel to Madikeri to meet patients. “We can meet near Channapatna,” he was quoted as telling them. A meeting was arranged on June 13 and the 10 handed over Rs 25,000 each to the healer. “He said he would bring the medicine within three-four days. After two days, some of us decided not to purchase the medicine and called the healer. His mobile has been switched off since then. We suspect he has cheated us,” the youths said.
(Representative image)