Inside the pouch

WHEN you take on the Manikchand empire, you know it8217;s a lonely fight. So, when Rajendra Dasgude and Sudam Kolte talk of their revolt ag...

WHEN you take on the Manikchand empire, you know it8217;s a lonely fight. So, when Rajendra Dasgude and Sudam Kolte talk of their revolt against the gutkha baron Rasiklal Manikchand Dhariwal8217;s empire in underdeveloped Shirur, a town 65 km north-east of Pune, the first thing the farmers say is: 8216;8216;We8217;ve even received threats to our life from Dhariwal8217;s supporters.8217;8217;

Dasgude and Kolte organised a protest rally against Dhariwal8217;s alleged links with the underworld on February 12. Not one out of the town8217;s 20,000 residents attended it. The pamphlets they pasted on walls vanished overnight. And Dhariwal8217;s cronies led a morcha demanding police action against the duo for defaming their beloved 8216;8216;Rasikseth8217;8217;.

That is the kind of support that little Shirur shows for Rasiklal Manikchand Dhariwal, 66, India8217;s premier gutkha baron, India8217;s first buyer of the Rs 5-crore Maybach ultra-luxury vehicle and, for two months now, the target of an Interpol international alert. After all, this is the town where Dhariwal climbed from tobacco hawker to gutka baron in less than 20 years.

Now hiding in Dubai with former partner-turned-foe Jagdish Joshi while his lawyers fight a Mumbai police arrest warrant, Dhariwal8217;s 60-day absence has turned his supporters defensive.

MOST residents refuse to speak about the man. A local paanwala cautions: 8216;8216;You may not have observed, but two-three men from the Dhariwal camp are on your trail.8217;8217;

The drama continues in the air-conditioned office of the Shiv Seva Trust, which is headed by Dhariwal. Here, the gutkha baron8217;s old pal Kesharsingh Pardeshi, 73, who is also the trust8217;s secretary, explains why people 8216;respect8217; Dhariwal so much.

8216;8216;I8217;m telling you, nobody from this place has guts to say anything against Rasiklal for they know he8217;ll finish them off, socially and politically.8217;8217;

He proudly lists Dhariwal8217;s acts of philanthropy8212;a mutli-crore hospital in the name of his deceased mother Madanbai, restored temples and cash donations to various educational institutions.

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Dasgude and Kolte beg to differ. 8216;8216;Dhariwal has earned his money by associating himself with underworld dons. And he8217;s ruined a whole generation with a poison like gutkha,8217;8217; says Kolte.

They allege that the plot8212;its market value rumoured to be Rs 3 crore and allegedly obtained by him at a fraction8212;on which Dhariwal built a state-of-the-art charitable hospital was procured by using his political clout. Notably, the former municipal chief8217;s group still has an absolute majority 17 out of 17 in the local municipal council.

So, while there are hushed complaints that Dhariwal8217;s factories don8217;t generate enough employment for locals, at his Pune office, Dhariwal8217;s son and managing director Prakash declines to comment. Shirur echoes this uneasy silence.