Dacoits in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna kidnap farmer, demand ₹50-lakh ransom

55-year-old Awadhesh Dwivedi was kidnapped when he opened the door of his house at about 3 am in the morning after being called by a villager who was forced to do so at the gun point by Babuli dacoit gang, in MP’s Satna district.

A farmer was allegedly kidnapped by a gang of dacoits who also demanded a ransom of ₹50 lakh from his family in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district about 486 kilometres north east of state capital Bhopal, police said on Sunday.

Madhya Pradesh is infamous for its dacoit gangs, several of them located around the Chambal ravines. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO/Representative)

A resident of Harsed village, the 55-year-old Awadhesh Dwivedi was kidnapped when he opened the door of his house at about 3 am in the morning after being called by a villager who was forced to do so at the gun point by Babuli dacoit gang, the police said.

Family of the abducted farmer got the ransom call about two hours later, at 5 am. The gang demanded ₹50 lakh and threatened to kill the farmer if the family approached the cops, police said.

Inspector General of Police, Rewa zone, Chanchal Shekhar said, “As per information received so far, it’s the Babuli Kol gang which has kidnapped the farmer. Seven teams of police personnel have been engaged to track down the gang in the dense forest area. We hope that we would get results soon.”

He said Satna Superintendent of Police Riyaz Iqbal was in touch with Uttar Pradesh police which was also combing the forest area.

According to the police, dacoit Babuli Kol is carrying a reward of ₹6 lakh on his head, including ₹5 lakh announced by the UP Police. He has been involved in scores of kidnapping cases, murders and extortion.