KK Gautam recounts encounters, anti-terror operations & high-profile arrest at CLF
By Arun Pratap Singh
my uttarakhand news Bureau
Dehradun, 15 Dec: On the concluding day of the three-day Crime Literature Festival of India, hosted at Hotel Hyatt Centric in Dehradun, yesterday, an engaging session focused on the life and career of police officer KK Gautam, who served in the Uttar Pradesh Police. Beginning his career as a Sub-Inspector, Gautam went on to acquire a larger-than-life persona through several daring actions and high-profile cases that he handled during his service.
The session also featured Bollywood actor Tridha Choudhury, who shared her experience of working in the highly popular web series Aashram, in which she played the character Babita. The discussion was moderated by senior journalist, Editor of my uttarakhand news and actor Satish Sharma.
Interestingly, Sharma himself was well-versed with many episodes from Gautam’s career and narrated some of them during the session. Gautam, however, shared in detail the incident involving the encounter and neutralisation of Rupa Dakait, a dreaded dacoit in Bulandshahar, during one of his early postings as a Sub-Inspector. He recalled that a police team under his leadership challenged a gang of dacoits led by Rupa Dakait. When the dacoits opened fire, an encounter ensued in which six dacoits were killed, including Rupa’s brother. From that point onwards, Rupa nurtured a deep enmity towards him and publicly vowed to kill him. 
Gautam said Rupa even reached his ancestral village, threatening his family members and villagers to trace his whereabouts. He expressed surprise that Rupa was aware that he was officially on a three-day leave, although he had returned to duty earlier.
Gautam further recalled that he later received information that Rupa had arrived in Dadri near Noida with a group of 50 to 60 armed men and was hiding in an orchard with the intention of killing him. Acting on this intelligence, Gautam and his team surrounded the orchard and challenged the gang to surrender. When the dacoits retaliated with gunfire, an encounter followed in which Rupa was killed. Gautam said the incident made national headlines, and the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, ND Tiwari, announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for the police team, a substantial amount in 1975.
Reminding Tridha about her role in Aashram, which was an imaginary crime thriller, Satish Sharma asked her whether she would like to act in films based on real life incidents. Tridha responded that she looks forward to acting in such films and would prepare for her role in whatever way it would be required. She also stated that she and her family are devotees of Maa Anandamayi and she keeps coming to Dehradun. She further shared with the audience that her mother Trishna Choudhury had accompanied her on her current Dehradun trip and was present among the audience.
Pics: Satpal Gandhi & Mohtshim Khan
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