Rahul Agarwal

Italy is to the Mafia, what Gorakhpur is to extortion This comparison appears bumbling but the reality justifies it. Extortion seems to be a new thriving industry in this 3000 square kilometer town of the country`s second largest state Uttar Pradesh. Here the list of master extortionists is almost endless for a town whose history has produced luminaries in every aspect of civilized life. This small town is proud of having a galaxy of personalities who brought in national and International accolades and glory to the district through their services in different walks of life. But in the last decade everything went topsy turvy. Criminal clans are now ruling the the roost. The dreaded don Sri Prakash Shukla became a household name for his expertise in this big bucks game, although he was gunned down by the Special Task Forces in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh. But his nefarious legacy is far from over. He is replaced by new prodigies in this well knit criminal-politician nexus. Crime and politics seemed so inextricably welded together that the long suffering people of this historic town had given up any hope of being governed by men and women who epitomized honesty and decency in public life . Dreaded criminals like Rinku Rai , Ramayan Upadhya, Amit Mohan and Ritesh Srivastva are a few of those names which are not new for the topmost brass of the town. These notorious extortionists recover crores in extortion money at gunpoint from industrialists, although the police charge sheets them for more than dozens of cases of extortion, murder and dacoity. However these criminals are far away from bars due to thier tight nexus.
In Uttar Pradesh, for instance, police records indicate that more than a hundred sitting MLAs have criminal records. Even more worrying, as demonstrated many a time in the past, the shiny, squeaky clean resumes of other politicians often hide a tight nexus with the underworld. In fact H.S Balwaria Inspector General of Police, Gorakhpur zone confirms the fact that many criminals who had committed serious offences like rape, extortion and even murder and who were presently charge sheeted but not convicted for their crimes, faced no hurdles in contesting elections, getting elected and even going on to become ministers with important portfolios. Hardly a day goes by without a reminder of the dangerous nexus between the criminal world and the various legislatures.
Police officials however make any statement but it is the political careers of such people which need to be nipped in the bud, for which the police forces need to work as the gatekeepers more seriously and put the culprits behind the bars.