New Delhi: It's no longer the battle of the bullet but a battle of the ballot that notorious gangster Babloo Srivastava wants to fight.
Close on the heels of former underworld don Abu Salem having said - through his lawyer Ashok Sarogi - that he was going to stand for elections, Srivastava too had declared that he too would take the political plunge.
On Monday, Babloo Srivastava announced at the Lucknow Central that he was going to contest the forthcoming UP Assembly elections.
Lodged in the high-security Bareilly prison for about a decade, Babloo has been coming here for hearings in various criminal cases pending against him before local courts.
"No sooner did he learn of Abu Salem's political intentions than Babloo decided to join the battle," his lawyer had been quoted by IANS as saying last year.
Both the dons have been extradited by the CBI, both are facing serious charges of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping for ransom and extortion and both are currently in jail.
On February 23, Srivastava was acquitted by the Delhi High Court for the murder of one Lalit Suneja, saying that there was nothing on the record to establish that he had any links with the murder.
The CBI had made rigorous efforts for Babloo's extradition from Singapore on August 30,1995. Babloo was caught there in possession of a fake passport which identified him as a Nepalese national Arun Kumar Agrawal. The passport was issued from the External Affairs office in Kathmandu.
The Singapore authorities caught Babloo following a tip-off then. But, they were not ready to accept CBI theory that the man caught was India's wanted don Babloo Srivastava.
The Government had to intervene and seek the Nepal government's assistance in providing corroborative details revealing Arun Agrawal was none other than Babloo Srivastava.
While court proceedings in 33 cases against Babloo were in progress, the don had reportedly been engaged in orchestrating kidnappings, contract killings, cricket betting and extortion from behind the bars in the jails of Naini and Bareilly.
(With inputs from UNI)
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