Take note: Even Chambal ex-bandit lines up at bank

Bhopal: In his heyday, the ex-bandit king of Chambal ravines would perhaps have never imagined that he would one day stand in a queue to draw money from a bank that he used to rob at ease.

Armed with his licensed double barrel gun, dreaded Chambal dacoit of 1970s, Malkhan Singh, drew large crowd at the State Bank of India (SBI) branch in the district headquarters town of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, on Thursday when he quietly stood in a queue to exchange a few demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

Sixty nine-year-old Malkhan, who came to the mainstream following his surrender along with his dreaded dacoit gang before former undivided MP chief minister Arjun Singh in 1983, was seen waiting patiently for hours in the queue moving at a snail’s pace, much to the awe and amusement of the curious onlookers.

The redoubtable “emperor of robbers” of Chambal ravines of 1970s, Malkhan Singh, had amassed a total of 94 police cases, including 18 of robbery, 28 of kidnapping, 19 of attempt to murder, and 17 of murder, by the time he bade farewell to arms. His biopic, Malwa ke Sholay, is going to be released soon.

“I was amazed to see his composed demeanor, which was in sharp contrast to his bygone image of a dreaded dacoit. I was wondering what must be going in his mind when he was waiting in the queue outside a bank that he once perhaps loved to loot. It was a strange and terrific experience for me and other onlookers,” Rakesh Pandey, a local trader, told the newspaper.