GANGS OF MUMBAI.........

The Dawood Ibrahim Gang²⁴

Dawood Ibrahim is the most powerful Mumbai Mafia ‘don’, with a countrywide network and extensive linkages abroad. He is one of the most powerful gangsters involved in transnational crimes, including narcotics smuggling, extortion and contract killing. He has lived in Dubai and is currently based in Pakistan. He had a phenomenal rise within a short time. The son of Ibrahim Kaskar, a former Criminal Investigation Department (CID) constable,²⁵ he started off as a petty criminal and had the sympathies of Bombay (now Mumbai) Police due to his father’s connections. He used to assist smugglers to recover money from those who did not keep up their ‘word’. In the nineteen seventies, other gangs had become relatively weak and he took advantage of the vacuum, taking up smuggling of gold and silver. He built up his criminal empire with the help of his brothers and close associates, and was responsible for the elimination of hundreds of criminals belonging to rival gangs. The liberal bail policy pronounced by the Supreme Court helped him consolidate his gang. In the nineteen eighties, he became the most feared gangster of Mumbai. However, fearing for his life at the hands of rival gangs, he fled to Dubai, though his criminal network remained virtually intact. He currently controls his gang’s operations with complete impunity, as there is no extradition treaty between India and Dubai or Pakistan, and authorities in these countries have refused to extradite him – and, indeed, deny his presence on their soil despite overwhelming evidence. He also attempted to win social respectability by playing host to many influential politicians and film stars in Dubai.

Dawood’s brother Anees Ibrahim looks after the smuggling, narcotics trafficking and contract killing operations. Another key associate, Noora, looks after film financing and extortion from film personalities. Iqbal, a low profile operative, looks after his ‘legitimate’ business activities, including trading in the share markets of Hong Kong and jewellery and gold businesses. His gang consists of about 4,000 to 5,000 men. Fifty per cent of the Dawood gang members hail from Mumbai and the neighbouring districts and 25 per cent, including Abu Salem, his close lieutenant, hail from the State of Uttar Pradesh.

Due to changes in fiscal policies, the smuggling of gold and silver has become less lucrative. Currently, the primary activities of this gang are extortion, contract killing, film financing, drug trafficking, smuggling computer parts and illicit trade in arms and ammunition. The Dawood gang has been supplying arms both to criminals and terrorists.

Dawood Ibrahim has also invested heavily in ‘legitimate’ business ventures. His brother Anees owns a trading company in Dubai and Dawood has invested approximately Rs. 20 crores in the Diwan Shopping Centre in Mumbai and is also reported to have financial stakes in the Diamond Rock Hotel in Mumbai. Noora runs the Suhail Travel agency in Mumbai, which has since come under severe enforcement pressure. Dawood also reportedly has huge financial stakes in East West Airlines. His ‘legitimate’ business empire is estimated to have a turn over of approximately Rs.2,000 crores a year.

Dawood’s gang was secular in character before the year 1993 and used to attract ‘volunteers’ from both the Hindu and Muslim communities. However, after his involvement in the serial blasts in 1993, most of the Hindu gangsters have parted company from him. Sunil Samant, a dreaded gangster who continued to be loyal to him, was killed in Dubai in year 1995 by the Chota Rajan gang. Apart from his brothers, who are his chief counsellors, he continued to run his empire through Abu Salem²⁶ and Chota Shakeel.

The Chhota Shakeel gang initially used to be a wing of Dawood Ibrahim’s ‘D Company’. Currently operating as an independent gang, though not in dispute with the Dawood gang, it is active in the south, central and north-west areas of Mumbai.

Arun Gawli Gang

After the death of Ramya Naik, the mantel of leadership of his gang fell on the shoulders of Arun Gawli. There have been several inter-gang killings against the Dawood gang, and they have also targeted each other’s political and economic interests. This gang consists of about 2000 to 3000 persons. Interestingly, Arun Gawli was sent to prison in 1990 and even though he was granted bail by the Courts, he chose to remain in jail primarily to escape the wrath of the Dawood gang. He continued to run his criminal empire from within the jail premises by passing instructions through his visitors. His gang is involved in the collection of protection money from rich businessmen and also contract killings. He came out of prison and started a political party, the Akhil Bhartiya Sena. He has been sent back to jail for his alleged involvement in a contract killing case. Arun Gawli is politically very active and has considerable influence in the slum areas of Mumbai. He even posed a significant political challenge to the dominant Shiv Sena party in the State of Maharashtra.

Amar Naik Gang

This gang originated in the year 1980 and commenced with the collection of protection money from various vegetable vendors in the Dadar area of Mumbai city. When Ram Bhat, the leader of this gang was sentenced to imprisonment in a robbery case, Amar Naik took over the reigns. The main thrust of his criminal activities was to collect hafta (extortion money) from vegetable vendors, hawkers, bootleggers and smugglers. Due to a clash of interests, his gang had several violent skirmishes with the Arun Gawli gang, not only outside jail but even within the jail premises, where members of both the gangs were lodged, resulting in several killings. This gang has a strength of about 200 criminals. Amar Naik was killed on August 9, 1996, and the mantle of leadership has now fallen on the shoulders of Ashwin Naik, his younger brother, an engineer by profession.

Chota Rajan Gang

Chota Rajan commenced his criminal career with the Dawood Ibrahim gang. Hailing from Mumbai's eastern suburb of Chembur, he started out with extortion rackets centred on the Sahyadri Krida Mandal, which organises the annual Ganesh festival at Tilak Nagar.²⁷ Subsequent to the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai, Dawood’s gang was divided on communal lines and Chota Rajan fell out with Dawood and fled from India. He raised a new gang in 1994-95. According to an estimate, the membership of this gang numbers about 800. His areas of operation are in the States of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. He is essentially a drug-trafficker and contract killer. He joined hands with Arun Gawli and was responsible for the killing of Sunil Samant, a trusted lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim, in Dubai in 1995. It was a retaliatory killing. He has targeted many Dawood loyalists and his gang has also suffered in retaliatory actions. Chota Rajan is presently operating from South East Asia.

Characteristics of Mumbai Gangs

Based on the study of the Mumbai underworld, V.K. Saraf developed the following profile of membership and activities:²⁸

• 66.5 per cent of gangsters in his sample were in the age group of 19-28 years; 26 per cent in the 29 to 38 years category; and 6.5 per cent were above 40 years.
• 29 per cent studied up to primary school, 42.5 per cent up to secondary school and 5 per cent had college education.
• A majority were drawn from a poor economic background and were propelled into the world of crime due to economic difficulties.
• A majority of the gangsters hailed from outside Mumbai and approximately 30 per cent came from outside the State of Maharashtra.
• The gangs were not based on region or religion, but after the 1993 serial blasts, Hindu gangsters have largely disassociated themselves from the Dawood Ibrahim gang.
• A typical Mumbai gangster is a cool-headed schemer and ruthless and un-hesitatingly employs terrorist tactics when he perceives his interest is being jeopardised. He is prone to violence at the slightest provocation.
• There is no initiation ceremony or ritual for the members. However, a ‘hopeful’ is involved in a criminal situation to test his mental capacity.
• The gang leaders have a caring attitude towards the members. The families are well looked after by the leadership when the members are killed or are in jail.
• A gang leader is not a total autocrat. He consults experienced people in the gang. After the death of Sunil Samant, Dawood Ibrahim relied on his brothers and his decisions were/are executed through Abu Salem and Chota Shakeel.
• There is evidence of a loose confederation of gangsters. A smaller gang may merge into a bigger gang but does not lose its identity completely. The smaller gang carries out the decisions of the main gang but is left free to involve itself in any activities of its choice so long as it does not clash with the interests of the main gang.
• The gangsters are required to display unflinching loyalty to the boss. Lack of loyalty means death.
• The gangsters are divided into three categories, namely, sharp shooters, money collectors and liaison agents. The liaison agents deal with lawyers and law enforcement officials and assist in legal problems relating to incarcerated gangsters. Each gang has a certain number of auxiliary members. They have a history of being involved in criminal activity and generally provide shelter to the gangsters and act as a repository for weapons. Their premises are used for holding meetings and making telephone calls by the gangsters.

Dance Bars: Dens of crime?

The Maharashtra government banned dance bars from August 15, 2005.

The story says that many dance bar waiters are turning to crime, since their source of livelihood has been affected by the bar ban. How sad! This is how it goes…

"The Mumbai police had always feared the closure of dance bars would lead to an increase in the city's crime rate. That fear now has a face -- first of the three pictures below.....

...The 21 year old turned to this new vocation after Diana Bar at Turbhe Naka, where he was a steward and earned Rs 8000 a month shut down."
The story narrates how a poor boy came to Bombay and found a job in a dance bar, only to be forced into crime once the bar shut down. He could not find another job, but he was recruited by another robber to join his gang. He gladly joined.

The story gets you thinking that poor unemployed waiters forced out of closing dance bars are taking to crime. Makes you feel bad and scared - Bad, because they are driven to crime from a harmless job. Scared, because you could be his next victim.

This is what you call opinion-building. Mumbai Mirror has successfully pushed the case for the return of dance bars. Opinion-building sob story in dim dance bar lighting stops there. Now, turn on the lights, so we can see the actual news.

The protagonist of the Mumbai Mirror story has been arrested for robbery. He was recruited by one Santosh Rai, who was a dance bar waiter-cum-criminal. Unlike what Mumbai Mirror would like us (and RR Patil) to believe, he took to crime in 2002, much much before Patil thought about the ban. How did Santosh Rai enter crime? He was recruited by one "Mini Gopal", a dance bar customer who also ran a gang of robbers. Santosh Rai has been committing robberies since 2002, and recruiting other dance bar waiters to this lucrative side-business.

I guess that's what is what you call a crime syndicate. A ganglord visits a dance bar, for whom the joint is a hunting ground for potential recruits. Some of the waiters join him for career advancement. They loot and burgle, and are later promoted as recruiting agents for more dance bar waiters. And it goes on and on. Some of these liveried burglars one day land up at our doorstep too. The morons that we are, we keep reading Mumbai Mirror while the waiter-burglar packs off with the booty.

This is not a one off-case. The Mumbai Mirror report details another case, when the ganglord is one chap called John Kumar alias Dolphin. He too used to run a gang of thieves, and used the dance bar as a recruiting ground. He hired the services of Ronnie Alex, who joined the robbers’ gang. Waiter-cum-burglar Ronnie looted a petrol pump, and made Rs 48,000. What a killing! He made a second dacoity attempt and was arrested. His poor family bailed him out, selling all their property. He promised to go home with them, but joined Santosh Rai's gang of robbers instead. He was arrested again. His romance with crime had nothing to do with RR Patil's bar ban - it was greed, plain and simple.

So, Mumbai Mirror itself gives us evidence of ganglords patronising dance bars and recruiting waiters, who in turn recruit more, even as they politely hand you a drink and fetch you change to shower on the dancers.

Last week, Mumbai Mirror itself carried the news of a BARC scientist printing fake money to spend at dance bars. The story of stamp scam accused Abdul Karim Telgi spending Rs 70 lakh on a bar girl on a single night is now the stuff of legend. Added to this week's news on the Income Tax department arrest of a crorepati bar girl, perhaps we can make some inferences:

1. Criminals and gang leaders routinely visit dance bars
2. They shower their ill-gotten money on bar girls.
3. They use dance bars as a recruiting ground for more robbers.
4. These robbers burgle our homes.
5. Once they prove their expertise, they are promoted to recruit more.
6. They too burgle our homes.
7. Their poor families sell property to bail out the arrested liveried burglars.
8. The greedy burglars neither settle for dance bars nor go back to their anxious parents.
9. One day they are arrested.
10. People who run fake stamp papers patronise dance bars.
11. People who print counterfeit currency patronise dance bars.
12. Their ill-gotten money helps these dance bar girls lead a tax-free existence, till the taxman knocks.
13. One day the cops arrest tax-free dancers, robber-waiters, stamp scam accused and fake currency-wallahs.
14. The media would like us to believe that all this is because of RR Patil and the dance bar ban.

Nothing could be further from the truth. But the unstated media campaign to bring back dance bars goes on. They even get cops to go on record that the crime rate is going up because of the bar ban. Sample this:

“Cops admit the spike in Mumbai's crime graph is linked to the thousands of waiters and stewards that have lost their jobs following the dance bar ban. Till last July 30 , 189 robberies were registered. In the same period this year, 218 robberies have been registered -- a jump of 20 per cent. While there were 21 cases of dacoities last year till July end, in the same period this year, 29 cases have been registered. “We had arrested one Rajesh Gowda a few days ago who was a waiter earlier but became a robber subsequently,” Police Inspector from Crime Branch said.”

Really? The anonymous cop says that robberies till July last have increased from 189 last year, to 218 now, a jump of 20%. And the rise in crime has been linked to the closure of dance bars. Ignore the part that 189 to 218 is a 15.5% rise, NOT 20%, the fact remains that dance bars were closed only on August 15. Those who lost their jobs on August 15 cannot be held responsible for crimes committed till July 30, if we admit the Mumbai Mirror argument that waiters tun to crime on losing jobs. Or did they start turning to crime much earlier, as the rest of the story proves?

The journalist's aversion to percentage figures is complicated by his tendency to swallow whatever his source thrusts down his throat. Newspapers print such concocted "news" and expect foolish readers to gulp them down.

Among the deluge of demand to bring back dance bars, truth lies rotting. Media conveniently glosses over the fact these criminals took to crime before the ban came into effect, and that crime lords over many of them. But we would rather not look that way; let's just stay focused on that female twisting over there in dim light. Let's not have arc lights here. Nor truth. It's time to dance!

Theft is Mumbai's biggest crime

Crimes of passion and murder are on the ebb. Even instances of extortion and dacoity, which never failed to make headlines a decade ago, are fewer in number when compared to petty crime like pick-pocketing and chain-snatching.

An analysis of last year's crime pattern based on data from the Mumbai Police shows that theft, house break-ins and stolen motor vehicles top the list. Of a total of 30,957 cases registered with the Mumbai police, there were 6,055 complaints of theft, followed by 4,183 cases of stolen vehicles. Pick-pocketing and chain-snatching accounted for another 1,766 cases (See box).

The city's crime graph, like its burgeoning population, is also rapidly rising: over the last decade the city has witnessed a 52% rise in crime. "It's easy money. Organised gangs are behind the lucrative trade of car thefts. The stolen vehicles are sold outside the state after their chassis and registration numbers are changed," said a senior police official. There's no denying that Mumbai is a wealthy city, and the rise of crimes like theft that have a low detection rate is a natural corollary, say senior police officials. For instance, more than 45% of pick-pocketing and chain-snatching cases have gone undetected. The success rate for detecting stolen motor vehicles is even lower—of the 4,183 cases reported, only 935 were detected.

"Crimes like dacoity, where a gang of armed thieves enter a house and rob people at knife point or even assault them have reduced. Today, thefts are carried out in a more sophisticated manner," said former police officer Y P Singh. Ten years ago, 161 dacoity cases were registered. In 2009, there were only 19 cases.

According to RTI activist Vihar Durve, who filed a query on this issue, the number of extortion cases dropped from 338 in 2000 to 162 in 2006. "But then in 2009, there were 196 cases, and it appears that this particular crime— usually associated with the underworld—is creeping back into the metropolis," he said. While the number of rape cases has dropped from 261 to 178, there's no reason to celebrate, added Durve. "Nearly one rape occurs every two days in Mumbai. We are not considering those cases that never see the light of day."

There's a new urban crime that's symptomatic of the malaise plaguing Mumbaikars. It falls under the seemingly innocuous category of injury. In 2000, the police registered two cases of injury; by 2009, the number rose to 3,579. "These are cases where people in a fit of rage try to assault or harm people in public places. Reasons could be property disputes, industrial disputes, family quarrels," said an official.

Sceptics insist that the figures are far from accurate on account of what is called "burking of cases". Said Singh: "This is when cases are not registered, instead a report of enquiry is made. It is done to keep the crime graph low."