Cops arrest aide of slain brigand Babuli Kol, seize weapons

LUCKNOW : The missing fire power of the slain brigand Babuli Kol gang was recovered from one of his three missing members Sohan Kol after his arrest in Chitrakoot district on Thursday.

Sohan Kol, who was wanted in multiple criminal cases, carried a reward of ₹1 lakh on his capture.

Deputy inspector general (DIG) of Chitarakoot Dham range, Deepak Kumar said Sohan Kol was arrested along with the missing weapons of the slain brigand’s gang.

He said Sohan was arrested from Kalyanpur forest area under Manikpur police station limits of Chitrakoot district. The three firearms, including two American make 30 springfield semi-automatic rifles and 315 bore rifle and over 100 cartridges were recovered from his possession.

He said these weapons were a major concern for the UP and MP police, as the three gang members Sohan Kol, Sanjay Kol and Chottu had taken it along after Babuli Kol’s death. He said the efforts were on for the arrest of two other missing members Sanjay Kol and Chottu.

He said the concern over the gang’s fire power has ended with Sohan Kol’s arrestand added that the weapons would have allowed the missing members to set up another gang in the region.

He said Sohan Kol had confessed that he took along the firepower with the aim to establish his own gang after his gang leader Babuli Kol and his close aide Luvlesh Kol was gunned down.

The DIG said that the same fire power has passed on from one gang to another in past 12 years. He said earlier the same weapons were with the gang of Shiv Kumar Patel alias Dadua when Babuli was the member his gang.

He said Babuli joined the gang of Swadesh Patel alias Balkhadia along with these weapons after Dadua was gunned down in an encounter with the police in July 2007. Thereafter, Babuli used the same weapon to establish his own gang after Balkhadia was killed in an encounter in July 2015, he added.