5 minutes agoWriters: Ashish Urmalia
More than 75% of the land in Bilaw village of Bhind district was occupied by a priestly family. Most of the land was snatched from the poor. The Purohit family had access to the minister of the government, so he was not afraid of anyone. He used to do whatever he wanted, the police also used to follow the orders of that family. Due to this pride, the family had also occupied the sarpanchi of the village for many years. Anyone who went against him would be beaten up. This thing was very stinging to a 17-year-old boy from the lower society of that village, he revolted fiercely.
Today in Dacoit Ka Kahani 7 the story is of the same boy Malkhan Singh who raised a gun against the oppression and then came to be known as the lion of Chambal. What did Malkhan Singh do so that rapes had stopped in 5 districts adjoining Chambal? Let’s know…
Malkhan Singh with his gang in Chambal
Purohit family got killed by police and put in jail
Malkhan was 17 years old when he started raising his voice against the arbitrariness of the priest family of the village. Started making the villagers aware. After this, Kailash Pandit, the head of the Purohit family, became an enemy of Malkhan and one day after asking the police to put him in jail.
The police put Malkhan in jail and killed him a lot. A few days later, when Malkhan was released from jail on bail, he filled the form to contest the election of Sarpanch and started speaking openly against Kailash Pandit. In a one-day panchayat, he raised the issue of 100 bighas of temple land on the banks of the Sindh river, which was occupied by Kailash Pandit. Malkhan started a campaign to get the temple land free from the possession of Kailash. When Kailash was upset by this, he made a new move.
At present, Malkhan looks like this.
Kailash Pandit got the friend killed, the police took him to kill Malkhan
Purohit Kailash Pandit was a moneylender. His uncle was a minister, so the police also obeyed him. Kailash Pandit accused Malkhan that Malkhan keeps in touch with the infamous dacoit Girdaria. He knows his whereabouts and also supports him in many incidents.
After these allegations, the police raided Malkhan’s house without delay and took him with them, beating him in front of the villagers. All this was being done deliberately so that Malkhan would never again open his mouth against Kailash. Malkhan did not accept. Meanwhile, Malkhan was accused of killing a certain man of Kailash Pandit. Now Malkhan was upset, meanwhile a very close friend of his was murdered on the day of Holi. Here all the limits of tolerance of Malkhan are crossed and Malkhan goes out towards the rugged.
Malkhan’s biggest enemy had to flee the village
After reaching Chambal, Malkhan along with his cousins and friends formed a gang but he did not have weapons. Malkhan’s gang carried out dozens of kidnapping and robbery incidents and bought weapons by collecting money.
Malkhan Singh with his armed gang
After strengthening his gang, one night Malkhan reaches Kailash’s house. Kailash challenges Pandit with a handheld speaker. As soon as Kailash comes out, Malkhan and his gang start firing bullets at him. However, Kailash manages to escape even after being hit by several bullets and escapes. After this, Kailash Pandit leaves the village and runs away from the fear of Malkhan.
Malkhan’s gang becomes the richest and biggest gang of the rugged
After firing at Kailash’s house, the police are constantly looking for Malkhan, so there is no option left for Malkhan to go back to the village. Malkhan continues with his gang of robberies, kidnappings and murders. It is said that Malkhan had done so many kidnappings in a short time that no dacoit had done in the history of Chambal.
Now Malkhan’s gang had become rich. Gradually the number of his gang members was also increasing. Former police officer Ashok Bhadauria told in an interview, “The number of his gang members had exceeded 100. But among these 100 people there was not a single person from the upper caste. As the gang gets bigger, Malkhan’s circle expands to three states. His gang remains active till Bhind, Morena, Etawah, Jalaun, Agra and Dholpur and starts carrying out more than one crime.
a dacoit of malkhan’s gang
Malkhan had a stockpile of foreign weapons
In the 70s, Malkhan Singh and his gang had self-loading American rifles. There was an Italian binocular with which he could sit far away and watch the movement of the police. Apart from this, he had a plethora of weapons like AK-47, Carbines. Malkhan used to carry an American rifle in one hand and a loudspeaker in the other. There were 20 such people in his gang who were ready to give their lives for Malkhan at any time. Whatever member of Malkhan used to betray him, Malkhan used to put him to death.
All the dacoits of the ravine including Phoolan give him the name ‘Dasyu King’.
In the 70s, gangs of many other bandits used to be active in Chambal. All of them started feeling insecure about the growing domination of Malkhan. Due to this, Malkhan’s encounter with other bandits started every day. Malkhan used to leave those bandits alive by shooting them in the hands and feet. Due to this, the respect for Malkhan started growing in the hearts of other dacoits as well and all together started calling him as ‘Dasy King’.
Malkhan Singh with his Automatic America Rifle
At the same time, Phoolan Devi, who became a new dacoit, also used to respect Malkhan. Actually, Malkhan Singh was a man of principles and a generous person. An incident related to Malkhan is also very famous, “One day Malkhan has an encounter with the police. A police constable comes into his custody. The gang was eager to kill that soldier. It was the day of Dussehra. Malkhan tells the gang, ‘By killing him, his wife and children will die without killing him. Leave it.’ Later that constable takes transfer so that he does not have to be a part of any action against Malkhan.”
“If someone rapes, he will be shot at the crossroads”
Malkhan had also prepared rules and regulations for his gang, which were completely different from the rest of the gang of dacoits. The biggest rule was that he and any member of his gang would not cast a dirty eye on any girl. The people of his gang used to see sisters and daughters, bowing their necks and touching their feet and went ahead.
Malkhan had also announced that even if someone molests a sister-daughter in 5 districts of Chambal, then he should consider himself dead on the same day from Malkhan’s bullet. Malkhan had announced to shoot the rapist by standing at the crossroads. In many cases of rape, Malkhan did the same. After this the rapes stopped in those areas.
He was famous for killing the policemen, he had more weapons than the police.
Till the year 1980, more than 94 cases had been registered against Malkhan. This included 17 murders, 18 dacoities, 28 kidnappings and 19 attempt to murder cases. There were also allegations against Malkhan that he killed dozens of policemen during the encounter. Fearing slander, the police did not let this matter come to the fore. In 1982, journalists who met Malkhan’s gang told that Malkhan had as many weapons as the police of 4-5 districts did not even together. The biggest difference was that Malkhan had modern weapons and the police did not.
Malkhan’s curved mustache was also discussed a lot in those days.
Any policeman who called Malkhan a dacoit used to shoot him. Actually, Malkhan did not like to be called a dacoit, he preferred to call himself a rebel.
Police of three states had lost their sweat in catching Malkhan.
The terror of Malkhan was increasing continuously. He continued to commit murders. Traders and influential people of dozens of districts were afraid of him. People were hesitant to leave the house even during the day. Along with the Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh governments, the pressure on the central government was increasing continuously.
The government of MP, UP and Rajasthan along with the central government formed STF teams and took Malkhan into the jungle to catch him dead or alive. Teams wandered in the ravine for months, many encounters took place. He had to bite his mouth again and again. Malkhan could never reach his hands.
Actually, Malkhan used to change his base every night. His people were stationed at every corner of the ravine spread over 6 lakh acres, who were aware of each and every movement of the police. After the failure of the STF, the government put a reward of 70 thousand on him, which is equivalent to about 6 lakh rupees today.
Malkhan finds his biggest enemy Kailash Pandit
Kailash Pandit fled the village only after an attack by Malkhan. Malkhan’s gang traces him and kills him. Malkhan killed his biggest enemy, but the issue of the land due to which this dispute started was not settled yet. Malkhan wanted to free that 100 bighas of land from the possession of the priest family under any circumstances. The top police officers had come to know about this.
A crowd of 30 thousand people had gathered to see Malkhan’s surrender.
3 journalists preparing a report on Malkhan conveyed this matter of Malkhan’s heart to the government. Arjun Singh was the Chief Minister of MP at that time. Talks started between the government and Malkhan through journalist Kalyan Banerjee and two other journalists.
Malkhan Singh talking to reporters.
At the same time, there is an entry of a SP Vijay Raman in Bhind. Vijay was becoming a fear for the dacoits. In a few days, he had encountered dozens of small and big dacoits. Due to this, a little fear had arisen inside Malkhan as well.
Malkhan stipulates to settle the issue of 100 bighas of temple land through journalists. Here Chief Minister Arjun Singh talks to Indira Gandhi. Arjun Sarkar resolves the issue of temple land as soon as Indira Gandhi’s green signal is received. Returns it to the name of the temple. After spending 15 years in the ravine, Malkhan Singh agrees to surrender.
Malkhan surrendering before the then Chief Minister of MP, Arjun Singh
On 15 June 1982, Malkhan Singh and his gang surrender in the presence of Chief Minister Arjun Singh. Wearing police uniform, Malkhan laid down his weapons in front of the idol of Mata Durga. A crowd of more than 30 thousand people had gathered in the ground to see this surrender. It was difficult for the police to handle the crowd. After this Malkhan remained in jail for 6 years. In 1989, he was released after being acquitted in all the cases.
Tried hand in politics too, campaigned for Narendra Modi in 2014
Even after being released from jail, Malkhan’s power remained in UP-MP and 5 districts of Rajasthan. That’s why many political parties approached him. Malkhan was impressed by the Bharatiya Janata Party and started campaigning for it. In the 2014 elections, he became the face of many platforms to campaign for Narendra Modi. In his speeches, he appealed to the Congress to curse and make Narendra Modi win.
Malkhan Singh campaigning for BJP in 2014
In the year 2019, when the BJP did not get the ticket, he got angry with the BJP and left the party. Later he joined Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle Shivpal Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia. Contested Dhaurahra Lok Sabha seat but lost. Malkhan Singh always says, “Won’t let injustice happen, that’s my mission.”