Encounter Specialists

Senior Inspector Praful Bhosle’s team, stationed at Ghatkopar, has felled no less than 70 gangsters since 1999. He is aided by Assistant Police Inspectors (API) Hemant Desai, Prakash Patil, Rajan Vanmane and Ashok Khot. Operating from a dingy office at Worli, a newly formed squad comprising API Avinash Sawant, Mahesh Desai, Salim Bagwan, Bushan Belnekar and Ninad Sawant have had some important strikes in Central Mumbai.

Other ‘‘specialists’’ include Rajan Ghule, Rajan Pillai, Anant Kenjale and Arun Borude, who also belong to the 1983 batch.

Among the big hits is Chhota Rajan aide Vinod Matkar, who was shot dead by Pradeep Sharma. Arun Gawli’s lieutenant Sada Pawle fell to Salaskar’s sharp-shooting. While Chhota Shakeel henchman Arif Kalia was Bhosle’s target, Ashwin Naik’s key associate Shashikant Sagwekar alias Chikna Babu was Angre’s big hit.

Mumbai’s first encounter dates back to January 11, 1982, when 18 Crime Branch officers gunned down urban dacoit and dreaded gangster Manya Surve near a beauty salon at Wadala. However, the spate of encounters only picked up in the late 1980s and received a further impetus when the underworld went ballistic during the serial blasts in 1993. It was in the late 1980s that the Anti-Terrorist Squad was set up under former additional commissioner of police A.A. Khan, remembered for the infamous Lokhandwala shootout, which claimed five gangsters including Maya Dolas in 1992.

These ‘‘encounter specialists’’ say that being from the same batch helped them bond, a factor that was crucial in their modus operandi. Sharing information with each other and meeting frequently also helped boost their morale, they reveal.