Chief minister Ashok Gehlot seemed to have taken a leaf out of Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath's book in his address at the Rajasthan Police Foundation Day event in Jaipur on April 16. "Our police will not be cowed down," he declared. "Gangsters and criminals should either surrender or they will be ruined." That same day, the reward money on fugitives was enhanced after a decade, with the state's top cop getting the powers to announce a reward of Rs 5 lakh, up from Rs 1 lakh.
Meanwhile, a video with the social media profiles of a few of Rajasthan's notorious gangsters is doing the rounds. It has a dialogue from the film Pushpa: The Rise-"Pushpa, Pushpa Raj... mein jhukega nahin (I will not bow down)"-playing in the background, followed by the song Teri jhalak asharfi' as a criminal shot at by police hobbles on a bandaged leg, as though doing the hook step made famous by the film's hero Allu Arjun. At least one of the criminals depicted thus is from the gang of Lawrence Bishnoi.
The police in Rajasthan are trying very hard to restore people's faith in the state's law and order situation by being tough on criminals amid a spurt in gang-related crimes. Cases of firing shot up from 311 in 2019 to 480 in 2022 and numbered 107 in just the first two months this year. Extortion attempts, likewise, rose from 11 in 2019 to 99 in 2022 (see A Rising Threat). Criminals flashing their arms, often illicit, on social media accounts is a popular new trend. The past month, at least four MLAS have complained of either being attacked or receiving threats to their lives. The Olympian Krishna Poonia, now an MLA and chairperson of the state sports council, has been given Z security following threats, while Ranjeeta Koli, the BJP MP from Bharatpur, has got Y-plus security after a series of attacks on her.
This story is from the May 15, 2023 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 15, 2023 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Shuttle Star
Ashwini Ponnappa was the only Indian to compete in the inaugural edition of BDMNTN-XL, a new international badminton tourney with a new format, held in Indonesia
There's No Planet B
All Living Things-Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) returns with 72 films to be screened across multiple locations from Nov. 22 to Dec. 8
AMPED UP AND UNPLUGGED
THE MAHINDRA INDEPENDENCE ROCK FESTIVAL PROMISES AN INTERESTING LINE-UP OF OLD AND NEW ACTS, CEMENTING ITS REPUTATION AS THE 'WOODSTOCK OF INDIA'
A Musical Marriage
Faezeh Jalali has returned to the Prithvi Theatre Festival with Runaway Brides, a hilarious musical about Indian weddings
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
Nikhil Advani’s adaptation of Freedom at Midnight details our tumultuous transition to an independent nation
Family Saga
RAMONA SEN's The Lady on the Horse doesn't lose its pace while narrating the story of five generations of a family in Calcutta
THE ETERNAL MOTHER
Prayaag Akbar's new novel delves into the complexities of contemporary India
TURNING A NEW LEAF
Since the turn of the century, we have lost hundreds of thousands of trees. Many had stood for centuries, weathering storms, wars, droughts and famines.
INDIA'S BEATING GREEN HEART
Ramachandra Guha's new book-Speaking with Nature-is a chronicle of homegrown environmentalism that speaks to the world
A NEW LEASE FOR OLD FILMS
NOSTALGIA AND CURIOSITY BRING AUDIENCES BACK TO THE THEATRES TO REVISIT MOVIES OF THE YESTERYEARS
