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Dacoit comes back from the 'dead'

Rahul Singh in Bhopal

In January last year, the Madhya Pradesh police claimed it had shot dead the dreaded Chambal bandit, Rambabu Gaderia, after a "fierce encounter".

Last week, the outlaw literally walked in from the dead and surrendered in front of the Gwalior police, along with his gang members .

The Shivpuri police claimed last year that it had gunned down Gaderia, who carried a reward of Rs 25,000 on his head. It also gave awards to the "brave" policemen. Chief Minister Digvijay Singh even felicitated the officer who had led the encounter team, sub-inspector Ashok Singh Tomar, who was also tipped for out-of-turn promotion.

Doubts about the police version of the encounter started surfacing a few weeks later when a group of five persons, who were abducted by the Gaderia gang and subsequently released on payment of ransom, said the outlaw was very much alive.

Who, then, was the person whose bullet-riddled body was recovered from the site of the "encounter"? The riddle continues to haunt human rights activists days after the real Gaderia was put behind bars.

The BJP MLA from the area, Narendra Birthare, had earlier alleged that the police had killed an innocent person, Banwari. He also discovered people who identified the body as that of Banwari. Birthare said Banwari and his family members were missing from their village. Which he was.

But the legislator too got his quota of eggs on the face. Six months after the controversy, the "dead" Banwari reappeared in the village, his wife and three children in tow.

That, however, does not solve the original riddle.

A high level CID inquiry had also concluded that the dacoit who was killed was not Gaderia. The police, refusing to believe the eyewitness account of the persons abducted by his gang, had arranged for a DNA test which confirmed that it was not Gaderia who was killed.

The reappearance of "dead" Gaderia is likely to give a new twist to the inquiry conducted by the district judge of Shivpuri on behalf of the the state Human Rights Commission.

There are conflicting reports about the way Gaderia landed in jail. While the police claims he was arrested, local sources said he surrendered in response to an offer made by the district judge of Shivpuri.

Sub-inspector Tomar, who was promoted as inspector a few days after the "encounter", has been demoted. Actually, now the government claims he was never promoted. Home Minister Nand Kumar Patel says the order for promotion was not issued due to subsequent developments.

About the photograph, widely published in newspapers, showing Tomar wearing three stars -- which only an inspector is entitled to -- in the the presence of the chief minister, Patel passes it off as a congratulatory pose and nothing else.

The commissioner of Gwalior division, who was asked to inquire into this aspect of the case, has been grappling with the riddle for more than a year now.

The body, first identified as that of Gaderia and subsequently as that of Banwari, had three bullet wounds on the face.

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