Give 35 buckets of water daily or face bullets: UP dacoits' diktat for locals
The villagers fetched water from the rivulets and wells, and carried it to the ravines of Patha to save themselves from the wrath of the dreaded dacoits.
It's a diktat that residents of 28 villages in Chitrakoot and Banda districts cannot ignore.
They have been asked by the dreaded Balkhariya gang of Bundelkhand to provide 35 buckets of water every day or face the bullets, and the villagers are complying. The local police, however, have feigned ignorance about the gang's order.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the villagers fetched water from the rivulets and wells, and carried it to the ravines of Patha to save themselves from the wrath of the dreaded dacoits.
"The dacoits often visit our villages and demand food. They stay here in the night and we cook meals for them. This was the first time they asked us to provide water. They have developed a plan for it and have formed clusters of three villages. Each cluster will provide water on a rotational basis," a villager was quoted as saying to a local journalist on condition of anonymity. "But we need to walk more than 400 metres to draw water from the rivulets or the wells and then walk another two kilometres to the dens of the dacoits in Patha range," the villager added.
Balkhariya gang is run by Sudesh Kumar Patel, a colourful and dreaded man who uses over 30 SIM cards to keep in touch with his sympathisers, including over a dozen women. He carries a reward of Rs 2.5 lakh on his head. Patel's supremacy over the region was established in August 2012 when he killed six persons, including Durga Patel, the former village chief of Dodamafi in Chitrakoot.
The 28 villages, where mostly tribals live, include Dadri, Madaiyan, Kilan, Rukma, Bahilpurva, Markundi, Sakraunwa, Tikariya, Manakpur, Chamaruwan, Silkholi, Bandri, Khamariya, Ghuretanpur and Ansuiya Asharma in the Uttar Pradesh side of Chitrakoot district; and Narahi, Tharpadar and Tikri in the Madhya Pradesh side of Chitrakoot. The villages of Banda, where this order has been circulated, include Gobari, Mahui, Kulsari, Sattupur, Piyar, Karubaba, Berauna, Sangrampur, Nibi and Baghelabari.
According to Mayank Kumar, a social worker in the area, "Water is scarce in this area and more precious than food. The dacoits get active in rainy season because the police remain inactive during the monsoon. But this year, there is no rain. So the dacoit gangs are confined to the forest. They don't want to enter the villages every now and then. So, they have asked the villagers to get them water. Besides, such diktats are also a way to assert their dominance in the area over other dacoit gangs which are active here."
Additional Superintendent of Police Swami Prasad, however, said, "We have not received any such complaint from the villagers. The police keep combing the area regularly."