Target Mumbai

In one such incident in April, Janardhan Pashi also known as 8220;Grenade Pashi8221;, an aide of one of Mumbai8217;s kingpins, Chhota Rajan, when surrounded by a police team, threw a hand grenade at them, killing three including two officers. Similarly, Chhota Shakeel8217;stop lieutenant, Feroz Konkani, killed a carbine-wielding constable during his escape from the JJ Hospital in May.Though the fear they have unleashed would make it seem otherwise, it is only a handful of mobsters who actually control the reins in Mumbai. The city has four main gangs and among them, these are increasingly determining who lives and who dies here.

The ganglords of all four 8212; Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Rajan, Arun Gawli and Amar Naik now dead 8212; had started humbly before rising to become dons. Dawood Ibrahim, the most notorious of the lot, was one among a head constable8217;s 10 children. His lieutenants include Abu Salem, a tailor and driver who encashed on Dawood8217;s already established terror in the city to make his fortune. Another of Dawood8217;s aides, Chhota Shakeel, was a black-marketeer who too capitalised on 8220;Bade bhai ki hukumat8221; in Mumbai. Since Dawood8217;s reported sabbatical from India, Salem and Shakeel have donned the mantle of his gang.

Dawood8217;s former aide-de-camp, Rajendra Nikhaljealias Chhota Rajan, is another force to reckon with. An erstwhile black-marketeer who started his career in Chembur cinema in the north-eastern suburbs of Mumbai, Rajan hit big time after he came in contact with Dawood in the early 8217;80s. However, when Dawood realised that Rajan had grown too big for his boots, he distanced himself from the latter in 1994. But Rajan now claims he himself parted ways with Dawood as the latter was communal.

Apart from the Dawood clan and its offshoots, there are two other major players in Mumbai8217;s mafia market. They are Arun Gawli and Amar Naik, local men who were once acclaimed by Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray as Amchi muley our boys. The Sena had even touted Gawli and Naik as the Hindus8217; answer to Dawood.

A mill worker from Lal Baug area, Gawli had garnered local support because of his defiance of Dawood. However, his honeymoon with the Sena did not last long, and after the party came to power in 1994, Gawli felt his wings being clipped. Subsequently, Gawli formed theAkhil Bharatiya Sena ABS on the lines of the Sena and declared he would fight the latter on its own ground.

Naik, on the other hand, began as a vegetable vendor from Dadar and till his death in an encounter in 1996, was considered one of the city8217;s most influential gangsters. He is believed to have had contacts with Cabinet ministers in the Sena-BJP Government, and even his death is said to have been cleared by another lobby of ministers which saw him as a threat. Since Naik8217;s death, his UK-returned brother and an engineering graduate, Ashwin, has taken over the gang.

Currently, it is the foot soldiers of Rajan, Shakeel-Salem, Gawli and Naik who are on a blood-letting spree in the city. According to a Crime Branch officer, the gangs are fighting over extortion money which could roughly amount to a mind-boggling figure of over Rs 200-Rs 300 crore a year.

8220;The underworld is like a stock exchange. With each hit or casualty, the gang8217;s stock rises or plummets, respectively,8221; says a Deputy Commissionerof Police. And since the gang with the most dreaded reputation is likely to grab the major share of the market, each is trying to outdo the other.

So far this year, Shakeel has emerged as a major contender for the top slot, with over 15 killings and 130 extortion threats to his 8220;credit8221;. Following closely is Rajan, with reportedly 12 killings and 75 threats. Gawli, whose men have been systematically targeted by the police, is believed to have still managed to pull off eight killings and over 102 extortion demands. The Naik gang trails, having only three killings and eight extortion threats to its name.

Among the dons, Gawli is the only one who lives in India. The rest are all holed up in safe hideouts abroad. While Shakeel and Salem are believed to be hiding in Karachi and Islamabad, Naik has made bases in London and Toronto and Rajan is said to be living on a yacht near Kuala Lumpur.

Armed with mobile phones and SIM cards, these ganglords are hardly encumbered by distance. However, for the police andincreasingly, the public, it means a war which won8217;t have a very early end.

Though earlier the violence was largely inter-gang, facts now show otherwise. Among the 88 people killed this year, over 57 did not have any criminal past or underworld links. The police put the figure at 36, but this does not include the bystanders who unwittingly got in the way.

A list of this year8217;s victims include Shiv Sena leaders like Kedari Redekar, politicians Ramdas Ambaokar, exporters Vinod Agarwal, travel agents Shaikh Shabbir, Matka baron Vasantlal Shah, videographer Lalit Shah, electrical contractor Eknath Khanvilkar, hotel stewards Keith Rodrigues, a college student Bhushan Patil, not to mention several builders and hoteliers who got killed because they refused to pay extortion money. As is clear, anyone is a target in Mumbai these days, anyone who is seen to have a little cash to spare.