KAMDEO SINGH "The Marauding Horsemen of Bihar"

    

 KAMDEO SINGH "Incridable  Dacoit of INDO-ASIA"

Starting as a dacoit, over time he developed a network of smuggling that spanned Bihar's northern districts, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Nepal and even far-off Calcutta, Jaipur and Bombay. He began building fire power and this coupled with his contacts with the high-ups - officials and politicians - gave him almost unchallenged authority.The man is Kamdeo Singh, his activities are centered in the Begusarai district of Bihar, and his hobby is to fight communists and 'bless' politicians during elections. "Even a rat can win the elections and enter legislature with his blessings but if anybody dare challenge him, his days are numbered," say the people in Begusarai and police records confirmed it.

Brief About Kamdeo Singh And his his Gangs:-

Victims:- With his extensive connections it was easy for him to wangle government contracts. In fact the Assurance and Question Committee of the Bihar Assembly which probed Kamdeo's activities in 1974 observed that the government departments worked at cross purposes: while the police tried to smash the gang, the other departments strengthened it.

Moreover, in the elections, Kamdeo was a force to reckon with. With no political ideology of his own save his hatred for the communists, he was willing to support any politician who would oppose them. Booth capturing, with his impressive force, came only naturally to him.By the time his end came, according to police sources, about 90 people had been killed on Kamdeo's directives. Customs and Excise Officer S.N. Dasgupta of Jaipur is believed to have been one of the victims.

The only person to stand up to his strength and send him on the run was a young superintendent of police in Begusarai, Ram Chandra Khan. During his tenure there (1973-77) Khan drove Kamdeo out of the area and nearly smashed the gang but for the extensive envolvement in Political matters.

Hostilities: The police department have lost track of the crimes he has committed, but no less than 40 "important figures" of the area, mostly CPI workers, who dared challenge this "mafia king" were finished in Begusarai district alone. This is not all. About 50 others have been killed by his gang outside Begusarai - in different parts of the country and in Nepal. This excludes the gang's dacoities, robberies, loot, arson and smuggling.

Rise: Kamdeo began his life as a bullock-cart driver two decades back. He fell in the company of some dacoits and invested his share of loot in organising his own gang and switched over to smuggling across the Indo-Nepal border. First ganja, then stainless steel and other contraband. He became rich overnight and now owns a fleet of cars, trucks and other vehicles. According to the police, he has set up outposts in Nepal, Bihar, Calcutta, Bombay and Kanpur.

At one stage Ram Chandra Khan, a tough matter-of-fact IPS officer appeared on the scene. The then chief minister Abdul Ghafoor announced Khan's name in the House as the next police superintendent of Begusarai. Khan proved equal to the task, and moved with determination to smash the mafia and the "king".

After a series of encounters, Kamdeo decided to shift his base and ultimately quit the place to return only after Khan was transferred after a three-and-half-year-term in early 1977. "Had he received full cooperation from the headquarters, he would have finished the gang," police sources say. Even the Central Government did not approve his plan to smash the gang. The reason is still a mystery.

Elusive:  He got arrested only once.This took place at Rajbiraj in Nepal in March 1974. Khan, sources said, tried his best to lay his hand on the man but international protocol and formalities stymied his efforts.

A team of police officials headed by Khan visited Nepal five or six times during April and June 1974 to negotiate with the Nepal authorities for the transfer of Kamdeo to Bihar jail. But by the time a team was sent for identification, he had been "replaced" by someone else.

N many in the police department believed that Kamdeo was set freed from the Nepal jail because he had agreed to finish a "revolutionary." Some time later that "revolutionary" was found dead in the bordering areas, and it is alleged, that it was Kamdeo, who was responsible for the killing.

                  Dacoit's violent end 

When Home Minister Zail Singh visited Patna  the state administration - under Central rule - was reportedly asked to get rid of Kamdeo. Since the local administration was considered unequal to the job, a task force comprising men of the Central Reserve Police and the Mounted Police of the Bihar Military Police was set up.On April 18, Kamdeo was supervising some contract work on the banks of the Ganga near his village Nayagaon. In the morning of that day members of the task force surrounded the village in Matihani block from three sides, leaving only one side open - the way to the Ganges.Kamdeo, caught unawares, could not match their firepower with his guards, and after a prolonged exchange of fire that lasted till noon, decided to make a run for it. But before he could leap into the river his back had been riddled with bullets. His body was fished out from the Ganges four hours later. Nine of his associates surrendered.Kamdeo's old mother and wife identified him but the tense men at police headquarters continued to be incredulous. They still were not positive if the man killed was in fact Kamdeo. Just to make sure, a Central Intelligence Department team led by Deputy Inspector General D.N. Sahay visited the spot.It was only after their confirmation that there was a collective sigh of relief at police headquarters. After 20 years of terrorising, a man who had lived by the gun had died by it.

Source-Google.Times of India,Elders from Bihar.