Deepan Bhadran, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Crime in Ahmedabad city police is among the three senior police officers who were transferred from Gandhinagar on Saturday. Bhadran has now been transferred as the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Jamnagar. During his tenure, the 2007-batch IPS officer launched a crackdown on organised crime and took on the underworld mafia. He was credited for busting a drug racket worth crores with the Gujarat ATS. Given Bhadran’s track record, the news of his sudden transfer created ripples in police circles. However, it soon became evident that he was being sent to Jamnagar on a special mission.
The rise of one-time local criminal, Jayesh Patel, who has now established himself as Saurashtra region’s gangster, has been a cause of concern for officials. Patel first made headlines when he illegally grabbed land worth Rs 100 crore. Renowned lawyer Kirit Joshi fought the legal battle, thrusting the notorious gangster further into the spotlight.
Kirit Joshi’s murder in 2018 by two unidentified men in Jamnagar city sparked protests by lawyers in the state. The Ahmedabad Crime Branch took over the case and nabbed the shooters. During the investigation, it was found that Patel had hired contract killers for the lawyer’s murder but before the police could arrest the history-sheeter, he fled to Dubai.
With time, Patel became more powerful. After Kirit Joshi’s murder, he started collecting huge ransoms ranging between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 10 crore. When a professor of Jamnagar refused to give Rs 1 crore, gunshots were fired at his home. After the attack, the professor was compelled to sell his land in order to pay the ransom. This resulted in Patel expanding his empire to Dubai. “Give money or face a bullet,” became the dreaded criminal’s motto.
With his growing clout, he began illegally grabbing land. So far, Patel and his henchmen have 41 cases registered against them. It is believed that he used to live and operate from Jamnagar despite the knowledge of local police because of the tacit political backing that he enjoyed.
Patel’s terror has brought memories of the time when ‘Godmother’ Santokben Jadeja, an underworld don who held a firm grip over Porbandar region. However, under BJP’s rule, the law and order situation improved significantly and gradually the empires of gangsters collapsed. The matter soon reached the corridors of the national capital and it was here that the decision was taken to send an experienced police officer to Jamnagar to put an end to Patel’s terror.
The don has now fled Dubai and is in Africa, where he moves from country to country, frequently changing his hideouts. It is imperative that his henchmen be captured and networks are dismantled. Bhadran’s transfer has renewed hopes that Patel’s reign would soon be brought to an end.
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