Lucknow: Grandson of dreaded rebel-dacoit Malkhan Singh of Chambal, Ajay Singh was arrested for chain-snatching by the Lucknow police on Friday. The police also arrested his aide Akash Rastogi from gate number-3 of Smriti Upvan.
Malkhan Singh was synonymous with terror in the ravines of Chambal. The dreaded dacoit, known as “Chambal” in the local parlance, was feared by the police and hailed by the poor. As soon as Ajay revealed his background, the cops at the police station spontaneously exclaimed, “Imagine being arrested for chain snatching. He has spoiled his grandfather’s name”.
SSP Lucknow, Deepak Kumar said that Ajay claimed that he played handball at the state and national levels in 2010 and 2011 respectively. “We are yet to verify his claim”, he added.
Ajay, 25, broke down when reporters began questioning him. He said, “It is the society that made me a thief, everywhere people ask for money. I applied in railways under sports quota, as well as for private jobs. But everyone wanted either money or recommendations from influential people. I was even denied interviews because I have no influential backing”.
Ajay said that he had done graduation from Agra University and then took to crime in 2013.
He confessed that he started chain snatching in Kanpur and then shifted base to Lucknow. His aide Akash Rastogi used to survey the area while Ajay used to snatch chains. However, both were seen in the footage in a chain-snatching case on January 21 on a CCTV camera installed at Aashiana area.
They were also seen in two other cases of chain loot in the CCTV footage in Alambagh.
The duo also used to carry an electronic weighing machine for measuring the weight of the looted chains.
