[Reader-list] The story of Thokia, a Washington Post article

[TaraPrakash]

Bandit Gains Locals' Loyalty While Long Eluding the Police.
By:Rama Lakshmi. JHINNA, India. Wearing a bulletproof vest, the policeman 
balanced himself precariously on a rock and looked through binoculars at the 
thick bamboo and teak jungle growth ahead. Twenty-two other officers, 
equipped with AK-47s and night-vision devices, spread themselves around in 
the day's fading light, some crouching, others hiding behind trees and 
rocks. Do you see any bandit movement, sir? an officer asked from behind a 
tree. Not yet, but we have information he was here yesterday," responded the 
first man. In a two-hour search that followed, the officers combed a patch 
of dry jungle in the central Indian plateau, looking for an elusive bandit 
called Thokia, Hindi slang for "the one who shoots. The operation was a 
surreal mix of medieval and modern tactics. To find their way, the team 
relied on both village whispers about bandit sightings and Google Earth 
satellite images. On this evening, they came up dry, again. Ambika Prasad 
Thokia is the most wanted bandit in this area today," said Beni Prasad 
Ahirwal, a police officer in the search party. There are 64 cases of murder 
and kidnap against him. There is a $12,000 reward on his head. He cannot 
hide in these jungles for long because we are making his life hell. Madhya 
Pradesh, a region of jungles, forbidding rocky ravines and deep poverty, has 
harbored bandits and renegades since at least the 12th century, historians 
say. Between 1957 and 2001 alone, nearly 5,700 bandits have come and gone in 
the province. In the past five years, Thokia, 33, has become part of the 
local folklore, a Robin Hood figure. He and his gang of 20 have killed 
several police officers and other bandits. They have abducted businessmen 
and public works contractors for ransom. They also have managed to build a 
reputation of never hurting poor people, especially those of the leader's 
own caste. All bandits use the caste structure to become powerful," said 
Dinesh Kumar Singh, an assistant professor of political science at Jiwaji 
University, Gwalior. Members of the caste community vicariously derive 
social prestige from the bandit. They feel proud that one of their own is 
invoking fear among the policemen. One of five children, Thokia was born to 
a lower-caste farmer with a small plot of land in Lokhariha village in the 
northern state of Uttar Pradesh. When he was a young man, the story goes, 
his sister was raped. He pleaded with local police and the village council 
to arrest the perpetrator, but they refused. So at 23, he ran away from 
home, pledging revenge. He killed the brothers of the rapist, but the man 
himself is still free. Many villagers refer to Thokia as "brother. Some say 
he is a good man who was forced by circumstances to take up arms. Others say 
he is religious, never missing his prayer chants at dawn. For members of his 
kurmi-patel caste group, he is a benevolent protector who settles petty 
village disputes and donates money at weddings. By most accounts, he is also 
the highest-educated bandit in Madhya Pradesh in recent years, having 
finished half of an undergraduate degree in commerce. He worked part time 
with a pharmacist learning about health care, and sometimes gives free 
medicine to villagers in need, thus earning another of his sympathetic 
names, "doctor. For businessmen in the area, he is simply a bloodthirsty 
bandit. He sends out life-threatening ransom demands on his own private 
letterhead that says "King of Bandits" in Hindi on top. Police say that 
Thokia's name spells such fear among businessmen that they often quietly 
hand over the money to him without informing authorities. A handwritten 
extortion note addressed to a construction company, procured from the police 
files, begins with an invocation of the Hindu goddess Kali and demands the 
equivalent of more than $100,000. Or else, your machines will be destroyed, 
your men will be abducted and you will not be allowed to work in the 
district," the note ends. An employee of a company that is building a road 
in the area said he received a phone call from Thokia three months ago. I 
cannot give you any details, I don't want more trouble. But Thokia asked for 
money," said Babu, an engineer with the company. It is a bandit area, we 
work under a lot of fear. Our construction work halted for now, after his 
call. But villagers of the kurmi-patel caste who spot Thokia and his men 
walking in the jungle appear to breathe not a word to the police. Three 
weeks ago, Thokia and his men sought shelter at an impoverished, dry, 
red-soil hamlet in the jungle called Majhgavan. The villagers watched him 
from behind trees in hushed silence. I saw the doctor-brother. He bathed 
under a tree and sat with his eyes closed in full meditation. His rifle hung 
from his shoulder as he chanted," recalled Rajesh Kumar, a 26-year-old farm 
laborer. He bought some flour and potatoes from me. He also gave an 
injection and some medicines to my uncle who was sick. He told us not to be 
afraid and not to tell the police. The police do not even have a recent 
photograph of Thokia, relying on a picture from his teens. But their 
investigation files are full of Thokia trivia. He is 5 feet 3 inches tall 
and wears pants that are 30 inches around at the waist; his tennis shoes are 
size 10. He wears four gold rings and a thick, spiraling chain around his 
neck. On his right arm is an egg-shaped, dark brown mark. Most of his gang 
members are in their 30s and wear khaki-colored uniforms, but Thokia prefers 
black. He wakes up at 4 every morning, bathes and recites verses in praise 
of the goddess Durga, and lights incense sticks. He is so devout that his 
men carry coconuts so that he can break and offer them in prayer at shrines 
they pass in the jungle. He has even won the admiration of some police 
officers. He has no bad habits," said Abhay Singh, the superintendent of 
police, after listing the outlaw's alleged crimes. No smoking. No drinking. 
And no relations with women. His word is law in the gang. And this is how he 
has managed to remain safe until now. He cannot be tempted. India's most 
famous bandit was a lower-caste woman called Phoolan Devi, the subject of a 
1994 movie called "Bandit Queen. She later was elected to Parliament with 
support from women and lower castes. Last year, Thokia joined the long list 
of bandits who dabble in politics. He campaigned stealthily for his mother 
when she ran for the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly. But despite his 
considerable influence, she lost by 3,500 votes..