A wolf in drag’s clothing

JANUARY 6: In the murky morass of the mafia, women it seems have more worth than the cliched gangster's moll. For hitman Nitesh Kasare, th...

JANUARY 6: In the murky morass of the mafia, women it seems have more worth than the cliched gangster’s moll. For hitman Nitesh Kasare, the feminine mystique held the key to many of his successful gambits. Togged out in the battlegear of an attractive woman, Kasare would visit the potential scene of crime during the day for a thorough inspection. He would return in the dead of night and make his strike. Sometimes, his piquant disguise gave him a loophole through which he escaped the net of law.

Standing at 5 foot 2 inches with handsome features, Kasare would dress up as a Punjabi damsel to carefully check out the residential complexes and shopping zones without raising suspiscions. “He would walk like a woman, mimicking her mannerisms and his clean shaven and chickna appearance helped his disguise,” reveals a crime branch officer.

Originally from Shrivardan in Raigad district, Kasare was first named in the history sheet for a street fight at Khar in 1988. From there, he went on to pick pockets before he joined a gang of robbers.

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Kasare was hired by Chhota Rajan after news of his exploits spread through the underworld grapevine. The skilled robber was weaned away from his old Harish-Jatan gang on a Rs 2 lakh monthly contract, which was usually paid in four instalments, police sources reveal. The whopping figure came as no surprise to the underworld or police circles, as Rajan had entrusted him with the elimination of no less than 22 key targets in the city.

After being named in more than 30 serious offences, Kasare suddenly moved up the hierarchy of the Rajan gang by shooting former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azaruddin’s friend and businessman, Ashraf Patel, in April 2000. The latter was targeted for his alleged links with rival Dawood Ibrahim gang.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (detection) Pradip Sawant, Kasare was supplied with a large cache of arms, including a carbine, to target his victims. Some of the weapons were recovered from a hideout at Vasai in Thane district, Sawant adds.

Kasare, with Imitiaz Sheikh, Ramesh Khuman alias Bappa and John Carlos formed a deadly combination before the crime branch turned the heat up on them. In fact, the gang was operating as an independent faction, taking direct instructions from Chhota Rajan, sources reveal.

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Kasare, 29, was shot dead on June 15 last year by a squad comprising of Police sub-inspector Mahesh Desai, Ninad Sawant and Bhushan Belnekar after he managed to evade the sleuths for more than two months. Sometimes he even managed to give a slip in a pretty `churidar-kurta’, sources say. The four-man faction was virtually decimated after Kasare’s death. While Carlos was arrested by the crime branch, key associate Khuman was killed in an encounter five months later.