Ramesh Singh Sikarwar, a former dacoit, surrendered in 1984.
He once headed a gang of bandits in the rugged ravines of Chambal in Madhya Pradesh. Now, nearly four decades later, he is on a mission to raise awareness about the cheetahs that are being flown from Namibia to India.
Ramesh Singh Sikarwar, a former dacoit who surrendered in 1984, has been roped in by the Madhya Pradesh forest department as a 'Cheetah Mitra' (friend of cheetah) to sensitize people on the spotted felines that are being brought to a national park in the state under the Centre's ambitious programme.
Eight cheetahs will be brought to Gwalior from Namibia in Africa on September 17 in a cargo aircraft as part of an inter-continental translocation project and flown to the Kuno-Palpur National Park (KPNP) in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh the same day.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release three of these cheetahs into the park's quarantine enclosures on September 17, his birthday, as part of the cheetah reintroduction programme, seven decades after the animal became extinct in India.
The 72-year-old once killed 13 cowherds in a day and had 91 cases of murder and kidnapping against him and his gang of 32. He also spent eight years in jail.
However, the call given by Gandhian activist Rajagopal PV during the term of former state chief minister Arjun Singh changed his life and he along with his gang members surrendered.
The last cheetah died in the country in 1947 in Korea district in present-day Chhattisgarh and the species was declared extinct from India in 1952.