NEW DELHI: It was love at first sight for
Anuradha and Sandeep
. The two had met in the spring of 2020 when the pandemic had just struck. That wasn't their only worry though. Both were on the "most wanted" list of police forces of Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana. For the cops, they were no less than Bonnie and Clyde. In police files, Anuradha was Madam Minz and Sandeep was gangster Kala Jathedi, with a reward of Rs 7 lakh on his head at the time.
The two were nabbed in 2021 and Jathedi has been behind bars since then.
Anuradha, however, got bail and the two kept their romance alive via regular 'mulakats' through legal channels. On Monday, a Dwarka court allowed Jathedi a custody parole of six hours to get married to Anuradha on March 12, seemingly concluding five years of their own little chase.
How sparks flew amid gunshots, and fluent English
It was apparently during a visit to the Valley of Flowers while on the run that their love blossomed. For the next nine months, the duo played cat-and-mouse with the police while hopping from Mussoorie to Dehradun to Ranikhet and other places. They were finally nabbed near Saharanpur in July 2021 and sent to judicial custody.
However, their incarceration in separate jails didn't let their love die, it seems. Grapevine was Lawrence Bishnoi played the role of ‘best man’ for Jathedi in prison. Several months later, Anuradha got bail and their meetings became frequent.
Those familiar with their love story say that Jathedi was smitten with the ease with which Anuradha spoke fluent English and fired bursts of Kalashnikov. “For Anuradha, life had seemingly ended with the death of her former friend — the dreaded
gangster Anandpal
, who was killed in a police encounter in the summer of 2017. Anuradha then came on the radar of Anandpal’s rival, Raju Basodi. This was when gangster Balbir Banuda lent her support. By 2019, she had come in contact with Bishnoi and eventually became friends with Jathedi,” said a senior cop whose team had tracked down Jathedi and Anuradha in 2021.
Anuradha comes from a humble family in Alfasar village in Sikar, Rajasthan. “Her mother died when she was a toddler. Her father, who worked in a government department, brought her up. Her pet name was Mintu which perhaps later earned her the title of Madam Minz,” the officer added.
Sources described Anuradha as an educated woman who went on to pursue a Bachelor’s in Computer Applications. Later, she tried her hand at stock trading but the business failed as her partner cheated and left her reeling under a debt of over a crore.
Anuradha told cops that she had tried getting help from local police but eventually joined hands with Anandpal to pay her debts through crime. Anuradha has made it clear, to police and in court, that she has no intentions of committing a crime again. For the last few months, she has been living with Jathedi’s elderly parents taking care of them, a gesture which his acquaintances said prompted Jathedi to ask her to marry him. She is also pursuing law so that she can help her husband in court.
Monday’s hearing in court saw Jathedi’s lawyer, Rohit Dalal, arguing that marriage was a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and denying Sandeep the opportunity to marry would violate his constitutional rights.
After hearing Jathedi’s legal team’s pleas and police’s response, additional sessions judge Deepak Wason passed an order for a parole from 10am to 4pm and directed the Delhi Police to ensure security. Additionally, Sandeep will be escorted to his village (Jathedi) on March 13 for the ‘griha pravesh’ ceremony, scheduled between 10am and 1pm.
Given Jathedi’s reputation, police will send their best men in to make sure Jathedi doesn't try fleeing from custody, a senior cop said.
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