Lucknow, April 2: Jagjivan Parihar wants to kill 101 Brahmins. Only, the police aren’t sure if he really means it.

They might have found out had they been able to catch him last night when they surrounded the jungles near Baitholi village in Chambal and waited till morning. But the quarry proved too elusive even for two companies of the Rapid Action Force and a squad of policemen from three districts.

In his denims and string of beads, long hair held back by a red bandanna, Parihar may look like one of those middle-aged, B-grade movie actors trying desperately to hang on to their youth.

But the 42-year-old’s world is not of fading virility but of rising prowess. He is the new terror of Chambal.

Parihar has moved fast to occupy the throne left empty by the legendary Nirbhay Gujjar when he fell to police bullets last November 8.

He has carried out a string of cruelties to show himself a worthy successor to Gujjar, the most recent coming on the night of March 14 when he terrorised five villages in Etawah, killing four people and kidnapping three.

But where he has outshone his illustrious predecessor is in political acumen.

One of the new bandit king’s first acts has been to declare that his life’s objective is to kill 101 Brahmins.

The announcement early this year immediately ratcheted up the simmering tension between the Brahmins and the Thakurs ? Parihar’s caste men ? in the ravines. Brahmin youths have launched the “Vishwamitra gang” to try and kill the dacoit.

An unfazed Parihar announced last month that his 80-member gang, split into four squads and operating in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, had already kidnapped some 50 Brahmins.

The police say all this may be a ploy by Parihar to gain political patronage, and thus safety from police raids. His threat against Brahmins has polarised the ravines, bringing the Thakurs behind him. This means he can claim to control their votes and thus make deals with politicians.

“At the local level, the politicians use these gangs as much as the gangs use them,” said Kanpur inspector-general of police Rizwan Ahmed.

Parihar, who leads a predominantly Thakur gang, says he became a baghi (dacoit) for revenge: a Brahmin had raped a teenaged girl from his family in 1991 and another had shot his father dead nine years later.

After he became a dacoit, caste rivalry also led to a clash with the Gujjars. He was abducted by the Selim Gujjar gang ? now his only possible rival in Chambal ? and forced to work for them. He escaped and formed his own gang in 2002.

The police say Parihar’s men are armed with AK-47s. On March 14, he showed he could strike at several places on a single night, moving from village to village with impunity.

He first raided Chaurela in Etawah, 250 km from Lucknow, and burnt alive 32-year-old Janmedh Parihar, an alleged police informer. At Lallupura and Ramprakash Ka Purwa, his men shot dead Karam Singh Parihar, 30, and Mahesh Jatav, 27, who had tried to build up resistance against Parihar.

The next to be pillaged were Mardanpur and Purvabihar, where a person was killed and three Brahmins kidnapped.

“The way he is recruiting, it seems he wants to carry out more operations and gain quick publicity,” inspector-general Ahmed said. “But we are giving him hot chase.”

“Madhya Pradesh has put a reward of Rs 15,000 on Parihar’s head and Uttar Pradesh has announced another Rs 10,000. He is wanted in 31 criminal cases. But it’s his ability to cause a caste divide that is most worrying,” said the senior superintendent of police, Etawah, M. Ashoke Jain.