The big daddies of crime are back.

Old-time criminals such as Durgesh Sharma, Bindu Singh, Ritlal Yadav, Ravi Gope, Manoj Singh and others have been giving a tough time to the law keepers in the city of late.

Senior police officers are taken aback at the re-emergence of these criminals after a long gap. The recent spurt in incidents of crime has compelled Patna police to prepare a fresh list of the criminal gangs operating in the state capital and its suburb. Among them, the gang led by Durgesh Sharma is considered to be the most challenging for the cops.

Sharma was released from the Beur Central Jail on a forged bail in 2011. Since then he has been evading arrest and carrying out his operations with the help of his shooters. Though he is reported to have settled in Delhi and Mumbai, he was recently spotted in Calcutta (Bengal).

Sharma, a resident of Mainpura, was initially associated with Sultan Mian, a close associate of incarcerated former RJD MP from Siwan Mohammad Shahabuddin. Around a decade ago, his gang member killed Sultan. After his elimination, Birju took command of the gang and fell victim to gang rivalry.

After that, Sharma took over the reigns. Sources said Sharma had visited Patna in February 2015 to kill Santosh, engaged in realty. He never disclosed his locations to the members of the gang.

Similarly, gangster Ravi Gope has been active in the capital for the past one-and-a-half decades. At present, he is absconding. Manoj and Ritlal are lodged in jail.

Shridhar Mandal, a senior IPS officer (retd), said: "The police should keep tabs on the members of the gang even after their release from jail. After coming out of jail, they regroup and start committing crimes. Convictions will work as deterrents."

Mandal, who has served as deputy superintendent of police (Town) in the state capital for long, said the cops are afraid of human rights violations and court restrictions, which prevented them from taking coercive action against the criminals.