BHOPAL: A month and a half after most wanted inter-state dacoit Babuli Kol and close aide Lavlesh Kol were gunned down by police in an encounter, the cops in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh have succeeded in arresting the only active inter-state woman dacoit gang-leader, Sadhna Patel, from the dense forests of the district.
Sadhna, who is in her early 20s and hails from Chitrakoot district of adjoining Uttar Pradesh, carried a bounty of `20,000 on her head from the Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh police in around 10 cases, including cases of kidnapping for ransom.
On a specific tip-off, the woman gang-leader of the inter-state gang of dacoits was arrested by the police from the jungles of Kadiyan Mor in Satna district on Sunday.
A 315 bore rifle, besides live and empty cartridges were also seized from the arrested woman dacoit’s possession, Satna district police superintendent Riyaz Iqbal said.
With her arrest, other wanted dacoits of the gang, including Rinku alias Ravi Shivhare, Dipak Shivhare, Shiv Murat Kol, Dhannu alias Dhanpat Khairwar and Dadu Singh alias Pattidar Singh were arrested by the Satna police, and arms and ammunition were seized from them.
Investigations have revealed that Sadhna Patel alias Belni Patel hailed from a village in Bharatkup police station area of Uttar Pradesh’s Chitrakoot district.
Patel’s aunt had close ties with inter-state dacoit Chunni Lal Patel. In 2015-16, Sadhna fled from home with a relative but returned a few months later.
She later came in contact with another dacoit of the region Naval Dhobi and became an active member of his gang.
After Naval Dhobi’s arrest, Sadhna took control of the gang and herself led the gang in high-profile kidnappings of a teacher and a businessman in the state’s Satna district last year.
Only one more left to catch
Officials said that after Sadhna Patel’s arrest on Sunday, just one member of the dreaded gang, Gyanendra Patel, remains to be nabbed by the Madhya Pradesh police.