Mafia drops anchor in India’s largest port, cargo docked for days

The deal: they offer truck drivers a cellphone number in exchange for an amount ranging from Rs 800 to Rs 1,500. The drivers call the number, jump the queue, unload the container at the warehouse, reload and leave.

If they don’t, they sweat it out in the queue for as long as 14 days or more—without drinking water, food and toilets.

Shailendra Kumar, a 28-year-old truck driver, waiting in queue outside the Chandni Chowk warehouse, says the amount quoted is usually random: ‘‘They quote a figure off the top of their heads. It’s the same story on the other 11 approach roads to the warehouses and also the port gates.’’

But police deny the presence of any mafia. ‘‘We have not received any such complaint. There was a case of a scuffle outside Chandni Chowk where a truck driver had lodged a complaint, but it was solved immediately,’’ says Eknath Budhwan, Senior Police Inspector at Nhava Sheva, Eknath Budhwan.

But The Indian Express hit the ground to find a different reality. A truck driver shared one such cellphone number—the person who answered the call identified himself as Rupesh and quoted Rs 800 for a 40-foot container’s entry inside the Chandni Chowk yard.

‘‘Gate ke aadmi ke saath pehchan hai. Aur andar bade saab ko jaanta hoon (I know the man at the gate. And I know the big official inside),’’ he says.

Asks Shahid Ali, who has been waiting inside his truck for 14 days now, watching several others gain illegal entry:‘‘The officials say that it is congested inside, then how is it that several trucks gain entry illegally?’’ Drivers like Shailendra Kumar are convinced that the mafia are hand in glove with port officials. ‘‘How can an outsider assist in entry without an official’s involvement?’’ he asks.

But Chandni Chowk supervisor Abhay Singh denied any links: ‘‘We only allow trucks on the basis of a token system. No other means is entertained. At present, we have 1,800 export containers and there is no space for a single container more.’’