Gangster’s visit to village sets off zila panchayat poll buzz

Greater Noida: Out on bail after nine years, gangster Anil Dujana visited his village last week. The visit led to speculation that he might contest the upcoming zila

panchayat

elections.

Dujana, who has around 43 cases of murder, extortion and attempt to murder lodged against him across different police stations in western UP, last month walked out of jail after securing bail in different cases.

Dujana, orginally Anil Nagar, was first arrested in 2012 in connection with the murder of a food trader from Muzaffarnagar named Robin Tyagi. His name later surfaced in the BJP politician Vijay Pandit’s murder case as well.

Last week, Dujana — who famously got married to his girlfriend Pooja on February 15, 2019 — visited Dadi Sati temple in Dujana when he had come to the Surajpur court for a hearing.

The temple is revered by the Gujjar community, and politicians like former PMs Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee also paid visits to pay obeisance.

His visit led to buzz that Dujana may once again contest the zila panchayat elections. His last attempt in 2016 led to a win with a sizeable margin of 10,030 votes against Sangram Singh.

While Dujana’s lawyer Jitendra Nagar clarified that so far, he has not shared any plans to stand for the zila panchayat elections, most villagers say it would be difficult for Dujana to make a mark this time.

Former village pradhan Ranpal Singh told TOI, “Last time, people gave him a chance because everyone thought that he would change.” However, some villagers sympathise with Dujana.

“He has never done any wrong to anybody from the village and in fact, has helped people from the village and his community many times,” said a villager.

Additional DCP (central Noida) Elamaran G said that since Dujana is out on bail, police cannot catch him but they would keep an eye on him.

Dujana’s lawyer Jitendra Nagar, however, said he wants to stay in Dujana village with his wife but the “local police and politicians may not let that happen”.