BHOPAL: Lone woman gang-leader of Bundelkhand-Baghelkhand inter-state dacoit gangs Sadhna Patel arrested from jungles of Satna district, on Sunday early morning.
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 in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh succeeded in arresting the only active inter-state woman dacoit gang-leader Sadhna Patel from the dense forests in Satna district of MP.
Satna district police superintendent Riyaz Iqbal informed that she was arrested based on specific tip off. A 315 bore rifle, besides live and empty cartridges were also seized from her possession, he said.
Sadhna Patel alias Belni Patel is in her early 20s and hails from Bharatkup police station area of Chitrakoot district of adjoining Uttar Pradesh. She carried a bounty of Rs 20,000 on her head from the MP and UP police in around 10 cases, including those of kidnapping for ransom.
With her 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 been quashed. It was the sixth arrest of the gang’s member within a month.
Other wanted dacoits of the gang: 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 within last one month.
Sashna’s aunt had close ties with inter-state dacoit Chunni Lal Patel. In 2015-16, she fled from home with a relative, but returned after few months. 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 charge and led the gang in high-profile kidnappings of a teacher and a businessman in MP’s Satna district in 2018.
Sensing a grave threat to active gangs in the MP-UP jungles from anti-dacoit police operations in both states, Sadhna Patel’s gang was working to join forces with the bigger gang of most wanted inter-state dacoit Babuli Kol, but aborted their plans after the killing of Babuli Kol and associate Lavlesh Kol by police in an alleged encounter by Satna police 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 is said to gone 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.
