After darkness sets in, however, they come out, forming groups of 10 or 15, armed with lathis and licensed fire-arms. They patrol the town and neighbouring villages, keeping a look-out for the intruders who have Santrampur in the grip of terror.

``We've been doing this for the past three months,'' says Bhaskar Gandhi, a medical practitioner who spends his nights patrolling Mangaldeep Society, where he lives. Businessman Yogesh B Bhuta, whose sister's residence was looted last month, adds, ``Police inaction left us with no alternative.''

Assaults and robberies have become commonplace in Panchmahals. Santrampur is not the only place to be affected, the neighbouring villages of Hirapur, Gothib, Ness, Janvad, Rainia, Babrol andUghreli have reported thefts of tubewell engines, each of which costs between Rs 50,000 and Rs 70,000.

A number of Government employees residing in these villages claim to have been robbed the very night they were returning home with their salaries. ``But no one has lodged a complaint for fear of reprisals,'' says a police official.

Not that the identity of the gangsters is any secret; the head constable of Khedapa outpost on the border with Rajasthan was himself threatened a few weeks ago by Praveen Ladu Pargi -- the leader of the terrorising gang -- because the police had raided his residence in Batakwada village.

But victims of looting refrain from mentioning Pargi's name, referring instead to ``the most wanted'' or ``Santrampur's Veerappan'', the latter comparison being encouraged by Pargi's choice of hideaways in the jungles of the district.

The allusion is just one indication of the myth surrounding Pargi in the region. An engineering diploma-holder from a Godhra-based Government-run technicalinstitute, Pargi is believed to have strayed into crime following tension with his two uncles, one a police official and the other an Excise Department employee. Reportedly, neither can visit Batakwada now for fear of Pargi.

Pargi does not work alone, his gang comprises 50-60 educated tribal youths who ventured into crime due to unemployment. Their targets are the wealthy, including the tribals. True to type, they also have a support base among a section of the rural population.

``They are alerted whenever a police party goes in search of them,'' says Dahod District Superintendent of Police K L N Rao and Santrampur police station PSI R M Rathod. ``Besides, the hilly and wooded terrain also helps them.''

The night-patrols, according to Rao, are one way of maintaining law and order. ``I've requested the local population to cooperate with the police.''