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UP raises reward on dreaded dacoit

LUCKNOW: Dreaded dacoit Ambika Patel alias Thokia alias Doctor, considered to be more wily and dangerous than Shiv Kumar alias Dadua, is today the “most wanted” brigand of Uttar Pradesh. The State Government has enhanced the reward on Thokia from Rs.3 lakh to 5 lakh.

According to State Principal Secretary (Home) J. N. Chamber, the reward money has been increased to speed up the campaign against the dacoits. Thokia belongs to Lukhriapurwa village under the Karvi police station area of Chitrakoot district in Bundelkhand region.

Currently hiding somewhere in Chhatarpur district of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, Thokia has been evading arrest since he burst on the crime scene a decade ago. With over 50 cases of murder, loot, dacoity and kidnapping for ransom registered against him in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, Thokia has become virtually the uncrowned king of the badlands after Dadua was gunned down in an encounter with the STF in June last year.

In fact, the same day Thokia’s gang had ambushed a police patrol a few kilometres away from the spot of Dadua’s encounter. Six policemen were killed in the night attack. Since then, special police and anti-dacoity teams have been constituted for combing the jungles of Banda and Chitrakoot districts. In December last year it was reported that the desperado had shifted base following pressure from the UP police and was operating from Chhatarpur district.

Belonging to the Kurmi backward caste, the same caste to which Dadua belonged, Thokia too has managed to create a network of informers in the villages and jungles of Chitrakoot and Banda districts. Meanwhile, the State Government has announced a reward of Rs.50,000 on Gyan Singh, another dacoit operating in Banda district.

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