Uttar Pradesh’s most wanted bandit Babuli Kol resurfaces in Chitrakoot, kidnaps farmer

Uttar Pradesh’s most wanted dacoit Babuli Kol, who carries a bounty of Rs. 550,000 (Rs. 5.5 lakh) on his capture, made his presence felt again after almost two years when he allegedly kidnapped a 55-year-old farmer from a village in Chitrakoot district three days ago and demanded a ransom of Rs. 5 million (50 lakh) for his safe release, the police said on Sunday.

The victim’s brother lodged an FIR for kidnapping against Babuli Kol, the Bundelkhand region’s most dreaded dacoit, and his close aide Luvlesh Kol at the Manikpur police station in Chitrakoot on Saturday after receiving the ransom call, the police said. Babuli Kol is listed among the most wanted criminals on the UP Police website.

Additional superintendent of police (ASP), Chitrakoot, Balwant Chowdhary said the kidnapping victim Braj Mohan Prasad Pandey’s brother Bharat Prasad Pandey received the ransom call on Friday morning. The caller threatened to harm the family if they informed the police, the ASP added.

Although the family members were hesitant initially, they got in touch with the police when they failed to arrange the ransom amount, the ASP said.

Local police teams combed the forest areas of Chitrakoot on the Uttar Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh border but failed to track down the dacoits and the victim.

Babuli Kol is wanted in over 50 cases of loot, kidnapping and murder of over a dozen people, including police officers, according to the police. Capturing him has posed a challenge for the Uttar Pradesh (UP) police as well as the Madhya Pradesh (MP) police for many years.

The UP police announced a reward of Rs. 500,000 (Rs. 5 lakh) on his arrest in October 2017 while the MP police announced a reward of Rs. 50,000. Luvlesh carries reward of Rs. 100,000 (Rs. 1 lakh) on his arrest.

Braj Mohan Prasad Pandey, resident of Nihi village in Chitrakoot’s Manikpur area, was targeted as he was considered a prosperous farmer of the region with over 20 bigha of land, a police officer said.

The Kol gang was in the habit of demanding Rs. 5 million (Rs. 50 lakh) initially and later agreeing to release the victim for Rs. 1-1.5 million (Rs. 10-15 lakh) while negotiating with the family of the kidnapped person, the officer added.

The victim’s elder brother Bhola Prasad Pandey told the police that the dacoits struck his brother’s house around 9pm on Thursday and took him at gunpoint after locking his wife in the house. He said the dacoits also took the cell phones of the farmer and his wife and used these to make the ransom call to another brother Bharat Prasad Pandey.

He said the callers introduced themselves as Babuli Kol and Luvlesh Kol, asking the family to arrange Rs. 5 million (Rs. 50 lakh) in two days for the safe release of the victim.

A villager said the previous instance of kidnapping by the Kol gang was on July 29, 2017 when it had kidnapped local Samajwadi Party leader Nirbhay Singh’s son Vijay Singh and a railway gate man from Tikaria railway crossing. He said the duo returned home after a week as the dacoits released them reportedly on getting ransom of Rs. 1.2 million (Rs. 12 lakh).

First Published: Aug 18, 2019 19:17 IST