HOWRAH: A magician who performed a Houdini act in the Hooghly on Sunday was assaulted by a crowd of onlookers who felt cheated because they saw through his trick.

A mob shoved the magician - who calls himself Mandrake - and tugged at his wig.

A crowd of thousands had gathered to watch Mandrake - stage name of Chanchal Lahiri - who promised to escape from a locked cage that would be lowered into the waters. To his credit, he did pull off the trick successfully and managed to clamber aboard a waiting launch in six seconds.

But the crowd would have none of that. They said that Mandrake had used a false door, which was clearly visible, to escape. The crowd pointed out that a ribbon attached to the door was used to pull it open.

Claiming they were cheated, some of them started to shove him around and even dislodged his wig.

Mandrake, the magician from Kolkata was to escape from a locked cage that was lowered into the river by a crane. Even though he got out of the cage and climbed on to a waiting launch, thousands who had gathered to witness the magic claimed they had caught the trick and alleged that Mandrake had cheated them.

He was shoved around and his wig pulled off.

The magician said he was merely trying to popularize magic. "I have performed around the world and held more than 2,500 shows. I didn't cheat anybody," he said.

Mandrake was put into a six feet tall cage with six locks. It was to go 30 feet under the water. Even as a crane lowered the cage into the river, thousands watched from the Howrah bridge and the launch jetty in Howrah. About six seconds later, Mandrake emerged from the water and climbed on to a launch. Soon after he reached the Howrah ferry ghat, he was surrounded by people who claimed they have been cheated. The cage, they claimed was fitted with a false door that was easily visible.

This isn't Mandrake's first tryst with a magic misadventure. A few years back, he had declared that he would walk on the Hooghly waters but had to beat a hasty retreat when the act went wrong.

Thirty-five-year-old Mandrake, whose real name is Chanchal Lahiri, had created a sensation several years ago by declaring that he would walk on the Ganga. On that occasion, too, the act went wrong and he had to beat a hasty retreat.

