'Ministers patronising dacoits'

By Our Staff Correspondent

BHOPAL, AUG. 18. The Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Dr. Gauri Shankar Shejwar, on Friday said that the dacoity menace has been on the rise in the State over the past six years. He went to the extent of alleging that some Ministers from the Gwalior- Chambal region were patronising criminal elements with the help of the police.

Dr. Shejwar was addressing a Press conference at the State unit BJP headquarters here after touring the dacoit- affected Karsena village and adjoining areas in Shivpuri district for an on-the- spot assessment of the situation. He was accompanied by a team of BJP MLAs that included Mr. Anup Mishra, Mr. Sitasharan Sharma, Mr. Dhyanendra Singh, Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar and Mr. Narendra Birthare.

Dr. Shejwar gave a detailed account of the gruesome murder of four villagers, three of them from Karsena and one from Imaliya village, on August 11 by the dreaded dacoit Ram Babu Gadaria and his gang. These villagers had been kidnapped along with a fifth person, who is an eye witness to these killing and was later released.

Ram Babu Gadaria, who was serving a life term, had escaped from police custody on March 23 in a pre-planned manner with the help of some persons who had boarded the same bus in which he was travelling. While fleeing they had taken away police rifles and ammunition. Narrating the sequence of Ram Babu's escape, Dr. Shejwar told pressmen that the Superintendent of Police of Shivpuri had an inkling of this as he had written a letter to the Gwalior SP suspecting such an eventuality.

While holding both the SPs directly responsible for Ram Babu's escape, Dr. Shejwar said that after his escape, the dacoit had held a meeting with the Karsena villagers on June 9 and told them to arrange Rs. 5 lakhs. This amount, sought to be collected from a group of four, was according to Ram Babu Gadaria, to be paid to the police as part of a Rs. 20 lakh deal to ensure his escape, Dr. Shejwar alleged. He said that the police had failed to respond properly even after the Subhashpura police station had been informed of the June 9 meeting by the village chowkidar.

On July 23, Dr. Shejwar said, five persons were kidnapped, of whom four were killed by Ram Babu Gadaria and his gang on August 11. All this has been confirmed by the fifth villager who was spared and sent back with a note doubling the ransom amount to Rs. 10 lakhs. The villagers have now been threatened that every village would lose 20 to 25 men if it failed to arrange this amount.

Dr. Shejwar said the Chief Minister, Mr. Digvijay Singh, has not shown the necessary will to tackle the dacoity problem. He even raised the demand for the ouster of the Ministers, who according to him were using the police for protecting criminal engaged in their personal liquor and mining businesses.

Dr. Shejwar further demanded that the next of kin of each of those killed by the dacoits should be given a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh along with some land and if possible a Government job. The State Government, he added, should seek Central help if it finds itself incapable of checking the menace of dacoity.

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