Low on funds, UP dacoit steps out of the Chambal, grabs 7 Rajasthan contractors

On June 4, Parihar’s gang made its maiden strike in Dholpur, taking eight men at gunpoint from a village nearly 40 km from Agra. One of the abducted men escaped by throwing himself in the Chambal river but the others have been missing eversince.

Though Dholpur is part of the Chambal ravines, dacoit strikes were unheard of after the ’80s when the district was cleansed of major gangs. For over a week, the Rajasthan police was clueless as to which gang had ventured into Dholpur. ‘‘We found out that Parihar is behind the kidnapping only on Tuesday. We are after him now,’’ said Dholpur SP Prafulla Kumar said.

Parihar, who carries a reward of Rs 1.25 lakh on his head, runs one of the largest gangs in the Chambal. Notorious in the region as the ‘‘patient dacoit’’, he is known to wait for months before making a ransom call. ‘‘He waits for the police pressure to ease off before making a move. This makes him a hard dacoit to catch,’’ the SP said. Sources in the UP police said Parihar also enjoys political patronage in Etawah where he comes from.