The gang(ster) of Wasseypur, now running in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: This was straight out of Anurag Kashyap’s cult movie. Instead of a Sardar Khan, there is a Shabbir Alam – a fugitive convicted in a double murder case in Jharkhand’s Wasseypur – who came to docile Ambikapur town in Chhattisgarh 13 years ago.

He lived in plain sight, running transport businesses, investing in ambulances and real estate, and dramatically disappeared just hours before a Jharkhand police team arrived to arrest him.Alam was convicted in the October 2001 murder of Najma Khatoon and Shehnaz Khatoon, the mother and aunt of Wasseypur strongman Faheem Khan, a killing that became one of the defining episodes of the Wasseypur gang wars. Kashyap’s 2012 film is said to be based on the life of Faheem Khan.The revelation has triggered a thorough investigation into how the 60-year-old convicted gangster, declared an absconder after escaping during a court production in 2013, managed to remain off the radar while establishing a sizable commercial footprint in Ambikapur.Surguja police on Monday registered an FIR against local bus operator Baidul Khan, alleging that he knowingly harboured a fugitive and helped him settle in Ambikapur despite being aware of his criminal background.

Investigators are also looking into others who may have facilitated his stay and business operations.Surguja ASP Amolak Singh said the whereabouts of Khan were being checked.Police said Alam is believed to have entered the transport business soon after arriving in Ambikapur. Investigators suspect he became a partner in a local bus operation, expanded into ambulance services catering to industrial areas, including the coalfields belt, and later invested in land transactions around Kharsia.

The businesses are now under scrutiny as police attempt to trace their ownership, funding and financial transactions.“The investigation is not limited to locating the accused. We are also examining the network that allegedly enabled him to remain here for years,” the cops said.According to investigators, Alam escaped while being produced before the Jharkhand high court in 2013 and remained untraced thereafter.

Acting on fresh intelligence, a Jharkhand police team recently tracked him to Ambikapur. However, by the time officers reached his residence, he had fled along with an associate.Beyond the manhunt, the case has sparked questions over how a proclaimed offender managed to remain in Ambikapur for years without attracting police attention. Officials did not offer an immediate explanation, saying the investigation would also examine the circumstances that allowed him to stay off the local radar for so long.