Dead or alive, Chambal dacoit remains thorn in MP police flesh

Dead or alive, Chambal dacoit remains thorn in MP police flesh
YOGESH VAJPEYI

BHOPAL, MARCH 25: On Friday, Ram Babu Gaderia showed the Madhya Pradesh police yet again why he's a thorn in their side, dead or alive.

On Friday evening, Gaderia, one of Chambal's most notorious bandits, and four other gang members were being taken from Gwalior to Dabra town by a police team for a court hearing. Among the passengers in the bus were his henchmen. When the bus stopped at a tea shop near Chori Ghati village, they overpowered the driver, threw chilly powder in the eyes of the policemen and snatched away five .303 bore rifles from them. Gaderia was a free man yet again.

A red-faced Government has suspended five policemen who were in charge of Gaderia's custody. MP police top brass have also rushed to Gwalior. But then, this isn't Gaderia's first run-in with the police: on April 15 last year, he showed up 15 months after being declared ``dead'' in a police encounter.

The first chapter of the story of Gaderia versus the MP police was written on January 7 last year, when the Shivpuri police produced a mutilated body and declared that Ram Babu had been slain in an encounter. Jubilant cops hurriedly organised photo-ops with none less than Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. In fact, the CM even pinned a star on the chest of team leader SI Ashok Tomar to signify his promotion. A section of jealous policemen then let out the truth -- the encounter was fake. Officials, though, doggedly maintained that Ram Babu had been identified by his relatives, neighbours and his village patwari.

BJP MLA Narendra Bharathare then raised the issue in the state Assembly, alleging that the police had killed Banwari Dhakar of Parichha, not Gaderia. Barthare produced affidavits from Banwari's relatives identifying him as the deceased. The police couldn't disprove the allegations since Banwari was missing. The MP Government ordered a commissioner-level inquiry, while the MP Human Rights Commission started an independent inquiry.

Much to the horror of the BJP, Banwari landed up, alive and kicking. He told the police that he had run away to Hardwar to become a sadhu. But there was no respite for the MP police: DNA tests conducted by the rights commission investigators conclusively established that the deceased was not Gaderia.

The desperate police then approached Gaderia's sister Ramshree to produce her bandit brother. But she refused to cooperate. Both Barthare and Ramshree told the district human rights court that though Ram Babu was alive, he was in hiding for fear of being gunned down. The court assured Ramshree and Bharthare that it would guarantee Gaderia's safety if he was produced before it. The two were trying to organise a surrender when Gaderia was arrested in the jungles of Syao village in Gwalior on April 15. Only to escape the long arm of the law all over again.