The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : A magician who's all fired up

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Wednesday, Apr 13, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

A magician who's all fired up

Staff Reporter

Jadugar Akash was trussed in chains and dropped into a burning haystack

THE HEAT IS ON:Jadugar Akash performs ‘Great Fire Escape' at a show in Bangalore.

BANGALORE: Jadugar Akash occasionally gets hot under the collar in the course of his work. That is because he's been dropped so many times from a crane into a burning haystack with his limbs bound with chains.

Earlier this week, it was again time for Jadugar Akash, the son of Jadugar Anand, for yet another Great Fire Escape — for the twelfth time, in fact. It was a homecoming of sorts for him as he had performed the stunt the first time in Bangalore.

Chained and locked

Over a thousand people gathered at the Dr. Ambedkar Sports Complex in Basaveshwaranagar here on Sunday to watch him perform the stunt. Mr. Akash was first tied with a metal chain weighing over 8 kg. Forty locks ensured he was unable to move any part of his body and even his hands which were handcuffed by a policeman.

A crane then carried a completely tied Mr. Akash, head down, and began to lower him into a cage from a height of 60-feet.

As the crowd went silent, petrol was poured on all sides of the cage, which was made of highly inflammable hay.

It was then lit, and within seconds, Mr. Akash was seen running out, emerging through the flames. Security immediately escorted him to an ambulance which stood nearby. After a quick check up, Akash stepped out of the ambulance, unscathed.

Though the stunt has been performed 11 times by the magician in Hyderabad, Hubli, Mysore, Belgaum, Mapusa, Panaji, Warangal, Vishakhapatnam, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram, he claimed it was still not an easy task.

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