Who is the real Chandan Mahto, the dreaded gangster from Netflix's Khakee The Bihar Chapter?
Actor Avinash Tiwari (L) plays Chandan Mahto in the Netflix web series Khakee: Bihar Diary. Photo: Netflix screenshots
There is a lot of curiosity these days around the name Chandan Mahto, a dreaded gangster from Bihar. The gangster's life and his exploits in Bihar have been brought to the screen by producer Neeraj Pandey in the Netflix series Khakee: The Bihar Chapter. It is based on the book Bihar Diaries by IPS officer Amit Lodha.
The seven episodes of The Bihar Chapter tells the story of how IPS officer Amit Lodha chases and catches one of the most dreaded criminals of early 2000s of Bihar, Chandan Mahto.
Ever since the series dropped on Netflix on Friday, November 25, viewers have been searching about the man, Chandan Mahto.
- In the series, actor Avinash Tiwary (Bulbbul, Laila Majnu) plays the role of Chandan Mahto while Karan Tacker plays Amit Lodha.
Who is the real Chandan Mahto?
The character of Chandan Mahto is based on the real-life gangster Pintu Mahto, who was part of the Ashok Mahto gang.
- The criminal gang was active in Bihar in early 2000s, and the gang was also responsible for the killing of Congress MP Rajo Singh in 2005.
- Pintu Mahto was one of the members of the Ashok Mahto gang.
- He was involved in several murder cases including the murder of Rajo Singh.
- Pintu was wanted in as many as 30 cases of murder and abduction, including the Nawada jailbreak on December 23, 2001, where he and his accomplices had escaped after killing two policemen.
- Pintu was also wanted in several kidnapping cases including the murder of the two policemen.
The Ashok Mahto gang: This gang in Bihar was the most notorious, and its rivalry with the Akhilesh Singh gang from 1998-2006 claimed the lives around 200 people in the Nawada district of Bihar.
- Pintu was a sharp-shooter of this gang.
- Their gang war with Akhilesh Singh affected nearly 100 villages in the Nawada, Nalanda and Sheikhpura districts of Bihar.
- The clash between the two groups stemmed mainly from the inter-caste rivalry between the Bhumihars and Kurmis.
- In 2003, the Mahto gang killed father of MLA Aruna Devi, wife of Akhilesh Singh and five others, including a six-year old boy. The killings were reported to be in retaliation for the deaths of seven labours who were allegedly killed by the Akhilesh Singh gang.
- In 2000, the gang had attacked the same MLA's house and killed over 12 people.
- In 2005, Aruna Devi was a candidate from Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) for the region's legislative assembly.
IPS officer Amit Lodha:
IPS Amit Lodha was the one who used his intellect to catch Pintu Mahto. Pintu was one of the most dreaded criminals and he was also wanted in the killing of Congress MP Rajo Singh. Amit, at the time of Pintu's arrest, was posted in Bihar as a Superintendent of Police.
In 2018, Amit penned down his experience in Bihar in a book called Bihar Diaries.
Amit, however, didn't name Pintu in the book but the character Vijay Samrat in the book was based on Pintu Mahto. The reason why Amit did not use Pintu's name was because of security reasons as he and his family had previously been targeted by the gang.
Lodha said during the release of his book:
Pintu was caught by Amit Lodha in 2006, from near the Satsang Colony, Deoghar in Jharkhand, where he was staying with his family.
He was handed a life-term by a court.
Pintu is currently serving his sentence in Tihar Jail, New Delhi, but one of his aides is out on bail.