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Babloo Srivastava's dream book sees light of day
By Sharat Pradhan, Indo-Asian News Service

Lucknow, Oct 14 (IANS) Alleged mafia don Babloo Srivastava's unfulfilled dream saw the light of day Friday when his autobiography "Adhoora Khwab" hit the stands across the country.

The much-awaited book was launched at a grand function, sans Babloo, who was allegedly denied permission by police to travel to Lucknow from a Bareilly jail despite parole granted by a Delhi court.

Facing charges of crimes like murder, attempt to murder and kidnapping for ransom, Babloo, who was arrested way back in 1995, is currently lodged in the high-security Bareilly central jail.

The book, authored by the don in his prison cell, deals with a unique subject - kidnapping - a skill he mastered over the years. 

"The book could be a guide for cops to show them their own loopholes and pitfalls in investigating crime, particularly kidnapping cases," remarked his close aide and organiser Ranjit Bahadur Srivastava, himself an alleged gangster-turned-politician.

Subtitled "Complete truth about the world of crime", the book in Hindi was formally released at a colourful function by president of the regional political outfit Apna Dal, Sone Lal Patel. 

Patel had fielded Babloo as his party nominee in the last Lok Sabha elections from Sitapur, about 80 km from here. The don, who was granted parole to campaign for his election, however, lost miserably. 

But he continues to nurture political ambitions and makes no bones about it. With his band of supporters and admirers, he hopes to fulfil that dream too. 

Significantly, the event witnessed the presence of a host of criminals-turned politicians, budding politicians as well as several outlawed student leaders. 

Each was more profuse than the other in showering praises on the don. They hailed in unequivocal terms his acquittal in as many as 28 out of 32 criminal trials so far. 

With his maiden book release coinciding with his 43rd birthday, the organisers arranged a giant sized cake, which was cut by a family member. 

Other than politicians, he now has the ardent support of publisher Satish Verma, the head of Nai Sadi Book House, who will pay a royalty of Rs.6 million to the don. 

"Rs.250,000 has already been paid to Babloo," Verma told the gathering excitedly. 

"Even in the pre-launch phase, the extent of publicity this book has received was unprecedented for our publishing house," he told the gathering. 

"The response has been tremendous and I am sure this is going to be among our hottest selling books," he said hoping that "Babloo gets to be known more as an author than anything else in times to come."