MP police is now zeroing in on Agra, after the location was traced to the Yamuna-Chambal ravines borderin Agra. A tip from a contact who was dealing on phone with the family members of the kidnapped also helped. Two days ago the location given was Morena and Dholpur. The Agra-area contiguous to Chambal and Yamuna ravines is now being combed. Police sources feel the two could be in the custody of Mukesh Thakur gang. Earlier it was believed Rajendra Gujjar gang was involved.

 The two Chennai traders Senthil Kumar, 28, of Mogappair West and  his agent Karunanidhi had come to Gwalior for a deal of ground nut, after a phone call from a truck driver Vijay Yadav who made arrangement for their stay at a guest house.

Next day Vijay took them to Dholpur from where they have been missing. Gwalior police believed the driver Vijay Yadav from Gujarat had handed over the two to some gang operating in the region. A ransom of one crore rupees was demanded on phone. Later the demand was scaled down to `75 lakhs. Unconfirmed reports said the family members are presently camping in Gwalior to negotiate a deal. Senthil from Kaatumannar Koil was a wholesaler dealing in groundnuts for past ten years. Karunanidhi is from Raja Mannarkudi, and knows Hindi.

 Meanwhile, their relatives, Senthil's wife Gomatghi and his father Ramlingam alongwith Prabhakar, brother in law of Karunanidhi, in Chennai have lodged a complaint with the Director General of Police and asked for help to rescue them.

 The rough terrain between Yamuna and Chambal is a haven for dacoits, as three states converge here: UP, Rajasthan and MP. The ravines provide a natural hide-out for the bandits who in the past have been romanticised in film after film. "The names of such dreaded bandits like Man Singh, Roopa, Tehsildar and later Phoolan, still ring an echo of sympathy and provide material for folk lores. For many years particularly after the mass surrender in the 1970s of dacoits before Vinoba, Jaya Prakash Narayan, there was a long lull in dacoit-activities. But in recent years dozens of dacoit gangs have been ruling the region and even dabbling in politics," says political activist Girish Yadav.

 The "kidnapping for a ransom" industry in Agra region continues to flourish despite state government's firm and clear directives to the police to deal sternly with the abductors and dacoits in the Yamuna-Chambal region. "It is usually a kind of a relay race. One group picks up a victim and passes on to another waiting at the district's borders and from there its another group which transfers the catch to the Chambal-Yamuna ravines where several gangs of dacoits are camping," says social activist Hari Dutt Sharma. This has been the pattern in the past dozen cases.

Though the senior officials of Rajasthan, MP and UP have been meeting frequently to coordinate and synchronise strategies, the dacoit gangs have proved smarter acting on tips from their network of faithful informers, usually of the same castes.

Among the top gangs are Jai Narayan (award of `50,000), Rajendra Gujjar, Mukesh Thakur, Ram Naresh, Raj Narain, Ram Nivas, Dhara Singh, Raj Veer. Vishnu Parihar's lady love Rusi was recently nabbed by the police. The Chambal ravines have traditionally been a safe haven for the dacoit gangs. The dacoit gangs these days are well equipped with latest gadgets and weapons. That is the reason why even the combined efforts of police teams from three states are not yielding the results.

And these dacoits usually have the solid support of their castes which makes their disappearance easier, adds Shravan Bharti, a retired government official of the area.

In the 1970s there were a series of surrenders, which gave hope that the problem had been permanently solved. "But since there has hardly been any economic development in the rough terrain between Yamuna and Chambal, the dacoit gangs are back in full force. Right now there are at least half a dozen outlaws with `50,000 award on their heads and several with `25,000 award. The fascination for crime remains undiminished, as we know for sure that these bandits also have a political role to play as was seen in the recent panchayat elections," according to an NGO functionary Akhil Kumar.