State police look tired with protracted hunt for the notorious gangster Amit Malik ‘Bhura’ having so far proved futile. Bhura had escaped from police custody on December 15 last while being taken to court in Baghpat from Dehradun. However, under pressure to at least ‘flaunt’ result with none other than the Chief Minister Harish Rawat himself prodding them ‘to capture him or face the consequences’, they are trying hard to rationalise things by some queer logic.
They said, congenital criminal as he is, it would prove difficult for him to elude police for long. He must come out of his hideout wherever it might be sooner or later for his own survival. “He cannot give up crime and so we are sure he would emerge out of his ‘hole’ in a few months to keep his extortion machinery continuing. Then the law enforcers would cage him with the police network being spread everywhere to have him hooked. For the time being, we have, however, chosen to give him a long rope to tie his neck with. We have our focus concentrated mainly in places like Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh where he used to run his crime fiefdom,” a senior police official said.
Uttarakhand police, still stumbling in the dark over the criminal’s whereabouts, have been working in conjunction with its counterparts from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh to arrest Bhura. Uttarakhand police have arrested six criminals so far allegedly involved in the escape. Senior police officers said that during interrogation, Ravi had disclosed names of 16 criminals in connection with the case. Out of this 16, five - Samar Pal, Babi Tomar, Prince Kumar and Mohammad Gauri alias Mohammad Saddam, Arvind Rohila and Ravi Kumar- are now cooling their heels behind bars.
State director general of police BS Sidhu said along with Delhi and Uttar Pradesh teams, STF, Uttarakhand is working now to arrest the gangster and recover the arms looted during the escape. He hoped the criminal would soon be apprehended. The sketches and photos of Bhura along with the mention of Rs10 lakh as announced by the Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh governments for information leading to the gangster’s arrest have been pasted too at various places across the country.
However, the question remains if Bhura does not get entrapped the way police like him to do. “It would mean he gives up crime or turns over a new leaf. Nothing can be better than the sharp-shooter ridding himself of his penchant to commit crimes at the drop of his hats,” a senior cop said.