BHOPAL: A new teenage dacoit queen is prowling the ravines of the Vindhyas , keeping police on their toes and busting the administration’s claim that there are no dakus left in these parts.

Police have declared a reward of Rs 10,000 on 19-year-old Sadhna Patel , who is rumoured to lead a band of seven. Arresting her is proving difficult as police don’t even have a picture of her and have to go by local stories.

It is after 13 years that a reward has been announced on a female dacoit. In 2005, police had declared a Rs 5,000 reward on Rani Gaur who was killed in an encounter in 2012.

The Sadhna gang emerged after dreaded dacoit Lalit Patel was gunned down in an encounter last year. The first time Sadhna and her gang were booked was on August 21 this year for abducting a villager, Chotku Sen, from Nayagaon.

Sen was kidnapped as Sadhna suspected him to have found hidden treasure. She tortured him and chopped off one of his fingers, say police sources. Police pressure forced the gang to release Sen. He later filed a complaint against Sadhna.

Sadhna is believed to be a native of UP’s Barahia village who moved to Nayagaon with after her father’s death. Police say her aunt was close to Chunnilal Patel, a dacoit who was killed in an encounter in 2015. After Lalit’s death last year, another dacoit named Deepak formed a gang and Sadhna joined him.

