28 March 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Meerut campaigning for the Lok Sabha election. Amid the water-tight security in place for the VVIP visit, a dreaded gangster Badan Singh Baddo escaped from police custody from a hotel in the city.
More than two years later, a Facebook page, which reflects on Baddo's chequered past and claiming to expose many has surfaced. The page, in Baddo's name, has multiple posts detailing on the alleged mafia-police nexus accusing present and former bureaucrats including a retired director general of police (DGP) of wrongdoing.
Baddo, serving life sentence in a murder case and carrying reward of Rs 2.5 lakh, is the most wanted fugitive in Uttar Pradesh. Despite massive manhunt by police and special task force (STF) since his escape, the gangster continues to evade arrest till date.
Who is Badan Singh Baddo?
Baddo's family had settled in Meerut from Jalandhar in the 70s. Baddo began his career in Meerut as a small-time transporter and rose up the ladder to establish his full-fledged business. He later invested in the liquor business and established himself as one of the prominent businessmen in the city.
It was in the late 80s and early 90s when his links to the local mafia in west UP surfaced. It is believed that he came under the tutelage of Sushil "Mooch", another dreaded gangster who is dubbed as Baddo's "Guru". From the mid 90s to early 2000, Baddo's name surfaced in several heinous crimes including high-profile murders. He has 48 cases of murder, extortion, loot and robbery lodged against him at various police stations in Meerut and neighbouring districts.
Law eventually caught up. Baddo was sentenced to life imprisonment in October 2017 for the murder of Ravinder Singh, a lawyer, in 1996. Trial was ongoing in several of his other cases. In a Bollywood style escape in 2019, he fled from custody after he allegedly lured the policemen accompanying him in the jail escort van to take a detour to Meerut while returning to Fatehgarh jail after a hearing in one of his cases in Ghaziabad.
Sources in the law enforcing agencies claim Baddo has businesses in Australia where his estranged wife and daughter live.
Baddo vs Ex-DGP: Allegation- Counter allegation
Posts on Facebook in Baddo's name categorically target former UP DGP Brajlal, now Rajya Sabha BJP MP and Romi, a businessman from Meerut. The posts accuse Brajlal of misuse of power and criminal wrongdoings in connivance with local businessmen in Meerut for monetary gains. In the posts, it is alleged that Brajlal, using his influence in the police department, slapped several fake cases against Baddo and also tried to assassinate him.
The posts on the Facebook page talks in great detail on the alleged nexus of the former DGP with mafias in monopolising the cable business in Meerut in early 2000.
Replying to the allegations, former DGP Brajlal, while reacting to the allegations made in the Facebook post, told The Quint that fugitive gangster Baddo has panicked after the death of one of his aides "Vicky" who used to give shelter to Baddo.
He has panicked after the death of his aide Vicky, who was killed recently in Punjab. I think there are two motives: He is planning to surrender and wants to portray himself as a victim. The other could be that he is trying to create an environment where he could get shelter if Samajwadi Party comes to power.Former UP DGP Brajlal
Police crackdown on Baddo
Following his escape in March 2019, the local police in Meerut registered a case against 17 named accused including policemen on duty in prisoner's transit from court to jail. Baddo's son Sikander was also booked and several names, mostly Baddo's business associates and friends, were added during investigation. Police filed charge sheet in the case in November 2019 though Baddo is still in hiding.
Police and STF rounded up almost all the known associates of Baddo but they are yet to land on any breakthrough. From Netherlands to France and Australia, Baddo's location through his online activity has placed him in several countries but the gangster remains a ghost.
In June this year, his palatial bungalow, which he claims was in the name of his sister-in-law, in the Punjabi pura area in the city was bulldozed after attaching movable assets worth Rs 1-crore, in an administrative action. Baddo's sister in-law Kuldeep Kaur had appealed in the commissioner's court against the move to raze the bungalow but the appeal was turned down after she failed to produce any approval for construction, map or any documentary evidence.
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