Chambal dacoits bow before brave wife
A woman claimed she went alone all the way to the ravines of Chambal and got her husband freed from dacoits who had kidnapped him in Agra on August 6, and without any help from the police. The dacoits were so awed by the courage shown by her that they accepted Rs 50,000 as ransom in place of the Rs 10 lakhs that they had demanded, and even gave her Rs 5,100 as a gift, Ms Sanjana Singh told reporters in Greater Noida on Tuesday.
Ms Singh, a mother of two minor children, said she did not inform the police as she feared for the life of her husband, Ajit Singh, assistant professor at a government college in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand.
Sanjana, also known as Gudia, speaking to the media at her brother-in-law’s house in Greater Noida, said her husband was on the way back to Pithoragarh from Agra after some official work on Friday evening when he was kidnapped. She got a ransom call the next morning demanding Rs 10 lakhs.
“When they called again, I agreed to meet them with the ransom amount. But I told them I could not manage such a huge amount,” Sanjana said. She added that while she was not scared of the likely consequences, she feared that a meagre amount like Rs 50,000 might anger the dacoits. “But then I thought that if they decided to kill, they would have to kill us both.”
Taking this brave decision, she went to Agra from where a vehicle, allegedly belonging to an associate of the dacoits, took her to Dhaulpur area near the Chambal ravines. She then had to walk nearly 10 km to meet the dacoit leader near a temple. “I was not blindfolded. But the terrain is such that one cannot give directions,” she said.
“Seeing me there, the dacoit leader said he had not seen any woman within a 50-km range. He insisted that my husband could not be let off without the ransom money. But he did not count it, and also gave me Rs 5,100 and returned my earrings,” said the feisty woman. The couple came home on Monday evening.
Ajit Singh told reporters that the dacoits had kept changing their base while he was in their captivity, but had not tortured him.
Greater Noida (First) circle officer Shalender Lal said while the couple were staying at the house of Ajit Singh’s brother, who is a resident of BSF Society in Greater Noida, the crime did not fall in their jurisdiction. “The incident has nothing to do with us. They have also not filed a complaint (with us), and if they want to, they will have to approach either the Agra or Pithoragarh police. It is up to them,” Mr Lal said.
Post new comment