Drowns jewellery in water, flees with it

A seemingly harmless healing ritual turned into a carefully staged theft when a self-styled healer asked a Dhaka resident to submerge all the household’s gold jewellery in water�"then vanished with the valuables while the victim’s attention was diverted.

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested two alleged members of a fraud ring that used Facebook advertisements for traditional healing to gain people’s trust before stealing their gold jewellery during sham treatment sessions.

The arrestees are Mosammat Jiasmin Akter, 21, of Fakirtilla in Chhatak upazila of Sunamganj, and Md Abdullah Mia, 66.

CID Special Superintendent of Police (Media) Md Chufi Ullah said in a press release on Sunday that the gang advertised traditional healing services on Facebook, claiming to treat various ailments, including chronic illnesses.

After potential victims contacted them, the suspects would visit their homes and conduct rituals involving incantations, spiritual healing and other practices.

At one stage, they would ask victims to gather all the gold jewellery in the house as part of the alleged treatment. The jewellery would then be wrapped in a handkerchief and submerged in water, while the suspects pretended to sprinkle the water around the flat.