Brijesh Singh (in jail) and Virendra Shahi (dead)
Mafia dons from Uttar Pradesh, both slain and jailed, have been found to be 'active' on social networking sites, especially Facebook. The slain dons are being kept 'alive' by their friends and supporters who keep posting items from time to time to revive memories of the dons and connect with people. The jailed dons are also active on Facebook though they insist that it is their sons/nephews who manage their pages because the people from their constituency want to remain connected.
Virendra Pratap Shahi, the don from Gorakhpur who is said to have built the city into the crime capital of north India in the 70s and 80s, was shot dead in Lucknow in 1997.
His Facebook display photo screams "Sher-e-Purvanchal" and carries a photograph of a roaring lion.
Greetings on various festivals are extended to his supporters on his behalf. Supporters, in turn, pay their respects to the slain don on his death anniversary and keep reminding people that he was the original "Sher-e-Purvanchal".
Twenty-two years after his death, his page has 1,767 likes and 1,768 followers.
His supporters post his photographs and relate anecdotes about his good deeds that earned him the title of 'Robin Hood of the East'.
Dead, jailed mafia dons from UP 'alive' on Facebook
Another slain don 'active' on Facebook is Shriprakash Shukla. One of the most dreaded gangsters in the history of Uttar Pradesh, Shukla's activities in the underworld had led to the creation of the Special Task Force in Uttar Pradesh in 1998. The same year, the gangster was shot dead by STF in Ghaziabad.
His Facebook page proudly calls him a 'don' and leader of 'Gangster group-G2'.
Though the criminal was shot dead in 1998, his FB page keeps him 'alive' and claims that he even started a 'relationship in January 2015' and then got 'married in January 2015'.
The significance of January 2015 is not yet known.
There is even a post, purportedly from Shukla, that says, "I am a gangster and gangsters don't ask questions."
The cover photo of the slain don is the one that exists in police records and was published in newspapers.
The cover photo of Shukla that was taken after his encounter and showed a close-up of his blood-splattered face was earlier the display photo but has now been removed.
Dead, jailed mafia dons from UP 'alive' on Facebook
Munna Bajrangi, who was shot dead inside Baghpat jail last year in July, also has a Facebook page but there are no posts on it. His profile claims that he is 'self-employed' and has about 20 friends.
Dead, jailed mafia dons from UP 'alive' on Facebook
The most interesting Facebook page is of an "emerging don," Aman Mani Tripathi, son of former minister Amar Mani Tripathi who is serving a life term in connection with the murder of a poetess in 2003.
Aman Mani is also an independent legislator.
Aman Mani is out on bail in a kidnapping case and is facing a CBI probe for the "accidental murder" of his wife Sara. His cover photo shows him with his supporters.
While he was in jail in 2016 for the murder of his wife, he had been regularly posting on his Facebook page, but stopped after the media reported it.
Interestingly, Aman Mani's friends list on Facebook includes former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, IPS officer Atul Sharma and IAS officer Sanjay Prasad.
Among the jailed dons who are active on social media is Mukhtar Ansari. He has been behind bars in Agra jail since the past 15 years for the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai and other cases.
His page is managed by his family members and gives information about welfare programmes in his constituency.
Ansari does not directly post anything on the site, but his aides claim that he remains updated about the activities on his page.
Another don who recently made his debut on Facebook is Brijesh Singh. He was arrested from Odisha in 2008 and is lodged in Varanasi jail. He is also a member of the UP legislative council.
His Facebook page has 1,619 followers and 4,072 friends and his account is managed by his nephew, Sushil Singh, also a BJP MLA.
According to police sources, some of the jailed dons manage their own accounts from behind bars while gang members handled the accounts of slain dons.
A senior police official said, "This is how their supporters and gang members keep alive their clout even when they are not physically present. We keep an eye on such accounts."
(IANS)
