In their investigation into the sensational loot, rape and murder incident at Hetapatti village in Prayagraj’s Tharwai area on the night of August 5, police have found out that women of the nomadic Baddik community, members of whom have been accused of the crimes, aided and abetted the men in committing various felonies.
It was predominantly the women of the community who conducted recce by going to villages under the guise of bangles and carpet traders, police officials said, and gave the information to the men in their families.
The women also provided their assistance in the smuggling of ganja or hemp, they added.
Including the five, apart from four men, arrested in connection with the Hettapatti incident, police, in just a week’s time, arrested 23 women from the Baddik community for various crimes, deputy commissioner of police (Trans-Ganga, Prayagraj) Abhishek Bharti said. The DCP added all persons arrested in the case were members of the Bhaddik community and hailed from Ishapur Milkia village in Shahjahanpur.
On August 5, a group of armed men, allegedly Baddik--which is a Marwadi community, allegedly murdered a security guard, hurt his wife and raped his granddaughter. The men, then, broke into the residence of a trader, identified as Ashok Kesarwani, and took him and his brother hostage before looting cash and jewellery worth several lakhs of rupees from his shop that was attached to his house. The miscreants also stole goods from the shop of one Rambabu Soni in the same area before fleeing, police said.
“Members of the gang move continuously with their women and children. They live in settlements outside cities or in deserted locations... To reach their chosen target areas, they use fields to commute in a bid to avoid getting spotted by CCTV cameras,” the DCP added.
{{/usCountry}}“Members of the gang move continuously with their women and children. They live in settlements outside cities or in deserted locations... To reach their chosen target areas, they use fields to commute in a bid to avoid getting spotted by CCTV cameras,” the DCP added.
{{/usCountry}}While people from the community are also found in Rajasthan and Haryana, in Uttar Pradesh, they are generally located in Shahjahanpur district and speak Khariboli. The 2011 Census put their population at 9,018 in U.P.
The police investigation revealed that people from the community had camped near Sangam, Jhunsi, Phulpur to Naini and Shankargarh areas a fortnight before the August 5 incident.
It was the police in Shankargarh that first busted the gang following an encounter. They arrested four members of the gang in Nawabganj area following a shootout in the wee hours of August 11. Two gang members received bullet injuries in the cross-firing.
On the confession of the four men, a Tharwai police team carried raided and arrested five women from near Manilal Ka Inara village of Nawabganj and recovered cash worth ₹73,064 along with stolen silver and gold jewellery.
Later, the Naini police arrested seven women from the Baddik community with ganja, followed by the Phulpur police arresting 11 more in connection with different crimes.
Meanwhile, the police were still looking for the three men who’re accused of the August 5 murder and loot incident at Hetapatti village.