Madhya Pradesh Police arrest lone woman dacoit leader Sadhna Patel, seize arms

Sadhna, who is in her early 20s and hails from Chitrakoot district of adjoining Uttar Pradesh, carried a bounty of Rs 20,000 on her head from the MP and UP police in around 10 cases.
Satna police address a press meet after nabbing Sadhna Patel on Sunday. (Photo | Express)
Satna police address a press meet after nabbing Sadhna Patel on Sunday. (Photo | Express)

BHOPAL: A month-and-half after most wanted inter-state dacoit Babuli Kol and close aide Lavlesh Kol were gunned down by police in an encounter, the cops on Sunday arrested the only active inter-state woman dacoit gang leader Sadhna Patel from the dense forests in Satna district of MP.

Sadhna, who is in her early 20s and hails from Chitrakoot district of adjoining Uttar Pradesh, carried a bounty of Rs 20,000 on her head from the MP and UP police in around 10 cases.

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 her possession, Satna district police superintendent Riyaz Iqbal said.

With Sadhna Kol’s arrest, the only inter-state dacoit gang operated by a woman in the jungles of Central UP Bundelkhand and adjoining MP’s Baghelkhand region have nearly been put to end, as it was the sixth arrest in a month.

Prior to it, 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 have been arrested by the Satna police in last one month and arms and ammunition have been seized from them.   

Investigations have revealed that Sadhna Patel alias Belni Patel hailed from a village in Bharatkup police station area of UP’s Chitrakoot district. Her 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 assisted them in high-profile kidnappings of a teacher and a businessman in 2018.

Sensing a grave threat to active gangs in the MP-UP jungles from anti-dacoit police operations in both states, Sadhna Patel was working to join forces with the bigger gang of most wanted inter-state dacoit Babuli Kol. She had to abort her plan after Babuli Kol and her associate Lavlesh Kol were killed in an alleged police encounter in September 2019.

With the police subsequently arresting five prime members of Sadhna Patel’s gang from different parts of Satna district, Sadhna Patel with trusted aides reportedly went into hiding in parts of Haryana, Delhi-NCR and Jhansi in UP.

After Sadhna Patel’s arrest on Sunday, just one member of the gang Gyanendra Patel is reportedly left to be arrested by the police.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com