From an IAS aspirant to the kingpin of a gang of kidnappers, the story of Ajay Singh, the alleged mastermind behind the kidnapping of Gaya-based doctor Pankaj Kumar Gupta and his entrepreneur wife, is one straight out of a Bollywood blockbuster.
Ajay (48), a native of Aurangabad, is now lodged in Lucknow district jail for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of Gupta and his wife Shubhra, while theye were returning to Gaya from Giridih in Jharkhand on May 1. The couple, however, returned home safely on Wednesday.
A postgraduate in political science from Patna University, Ajay, the second among four siblings of a police officer late Mangal Singh, tried his luck to become an IAS officer and appeared for the UPSC examination twice in 1986 and 1987.
Ajay later attempted to become an entrepreneur and in the process set up a factory in Aurangabad in 1988. His dream to become a business tycoon was shattered again. He then tried to enter politics and unsuccessfully contested the Assembly poll from Nabinagar in Aurangabad in 1990.
"Repeated failures in life turned me a criminal. I had taken Rs 45-lakh loan from the bank for setting up my business. It was difficult to repay the loan. There was no way out and hence, I stepped into the world of crime," a senior IPS quoted Ajay as having told him during interrogation after his arrest in Patna in October 2000. He turned to kidnapping, as Ajay had reportedly told the police, because it paid high dividends and had least risk.
It was because of his close connections in the corridors of power that Ajay was fielded as the candidate from Chatra Lok Sabha constituency (in Jharkhand now) from former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar's party in 1991. During this time he formed a gang.
Since then he never looked back. He gained notoriety after he kidnapped Sumedha Durlavji, wife of a Jaipur-based diamond merchant Rashmikant Durlavji, from Rajasthan in 2003. He was convicted in the case and awarded life-term.
In 2011, he was released on parole after his mother's death. He didn't return to jail and since then he had been absconding and committing crimes in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
