Did Baba’s ‘miracle’ eye open to help Babu?

A day after a Sai Baba statue reportedly opened one of its eyes in a house at Gavipura Guttahalli, the mob frenzy seems to be evaporating.

Although devotees continued to throng near the house of owner, Babu, on Saturday morning, the frequency was low compared to Friday. The number of devotees decreased slowly and by afternoon, there were only a handful of them.

The police, who had a tough time in handling the mob on Friday, were relieved to see a smaller crowd on Saturday. Some Sai Baba devotees have camped in the house and continued with their prayers and bhajans. But a section of the devotees and onlookers are looking at the episode with a critical eye.

One common question asked was why Baba decided to open only one eye and not both? Neither Babu, nor his family members, had a convincing reply to this question. The public and journalists were barred from going too close to the statue by the family.

Other than the family members, nobody was also allowed to touch the statue. Some devotees tried to go as close as they could near the statue but were stopped on their tracks by the family, who looked after the statue and placed offerings given by the devotees.

The entire episode of Baba reportedly opening his eye in Babu’s house has come in the right time, the police said. According to sources, had the incident been delayed by some months, Baba would have had to look for some other house.

According to a senior police officer, Babu’s house was built on a civic amenity site and there was a long-standing legal battle in this regard.

The BBMP had filed a case against Babu and recently, the court had directed the authorities to evict him and take possession of the land.

Meanwhile, Babu is making grand plans of constructing a temple on the premises. Babu is also a close friend of a local politician and had campaigned in the recent assembly polls.