Hundreds of them rushed out of their homes in Bhubaneswar and adjoining Cuttack to look at the moon with reverence as news spread by word of mouth about the celestial spectre. Some of them even offered prayers and started singing Sai bhajans.
However, as they strained their eyes to scan the moon’s surface from their ethereal location to savour the moment, they could not discern anything novel. It was after all a rumour. The incident had become a major topic of discussion among the common people here on Wednesday morning.
Nobody knows from where or how the rumour started floating around. But many residents said they came to know about it from their relatives through the mobile phones. “Around midnight I got a frantic call from one of my relatives who advised me to rush out and see the picture of Shirdi Sai Babu on the surface of the moon. I went out but could not see anything. The moon was looking as before and there was nothing unusual”, said Ashok Jena, a retired banker.
However, a few others said they could identify a hazy picture on the moon’s surface which indeed was looking like the eyes of the Shirdi Sai Baba.
There are others who are of the view that police should take stringent action against the people who were responsible for such rumour mongering.
“The police should identify these rumour mongers and take them to task so that in future people would think twice before floating this type of rumours around”, said Saroj Mishra, a home maker.
The local police maintained that people themselves alone can stop rumour mongering.
“The rumour mongers will stop their activities if the common people start ignoring them.
“But unfortunately people get influenced by these rumours. This has been proven by Tuesday night’s incident,” said a senior official in the office of the Bhubaneswar police commissioner.