The Updated Underworld

Chappal
That8217;s underworld lingo for weapon. Ek jodi 9 number chappal bhej raha hoon literally, I8217;m sending a pair of size 9 slippers has a dangerous meaning: I8217;m despatching a pair of 9 mm calibre pistols.

Dubai
The glitzy desert island still happens to be the place for finding fresh and willing blood. But it doesn8217;t seem to be as happening a place for the old guard, particularly after the gunning down of Dawood Ibrahim8217;s top lieutenant Sharad Shetty. Meanwhile, Dubai continues to be a kind of lounging space for members of Bollywood and Mumbai8217;s gangsters, mostly during concerts and shows. The city is also the transit point for an onward journey to Pakistan.

Encounter Specialists
Ab tak 600. That8217;s the number of gangsters the over 30 so-called Mumbai Police encounter specialists, currently in forced hibernation, have eliminated in the past eight years. While some squads have been disbanded, a few officers are stuck with court cases, carrying the taint of an alleged proximity with the very people they were supposed to get rid of.

Fighter
If you don8217;t know how to handle a gun yet and still make do with well-aimed kicks, punches etc on the street, you are referred to as a fighter. That8217;s until you graduate to being a shooter, the next step on the underworld8217;s ladder.

Gawli
He was in the reckoning during the Lok Sabha elections, but wasn8217;t all that big a hit. However, gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli a.k.a Daddy, who stays put within the confines of his central Mumbai stronghold, Dagdi Chawl, may spring a surprise or two in the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. What remains to be seen is whether he steps out of his well-guarded den and mingles with his supporters on Mumbai streets during the elections. Daddy is still very wary of encounter specialists.

Haddi
Haddi or bone is a term that gets attached to the first names of lean, mean gangsters. Salim Haddi, Paulos Haddi are examples.

Iqbal Kaskar
The buzz is that Dawood Ibrahim8217;s younger brother, languishing at present in Mumbai8217;s Arthur Road jail, may be on his way out. The charges filed against him are apparently too weak. And what8217;s Kaskar going to do once he is unfettered? Contest the forthcoming Assembly elections, obviously.

Jhadu
Jhadu broom or Straight is often used for assault rifles from the famed AK series. The rapid-firing capability of the Kalashnikovs gave rise to the alias.

Kiran Keshav 8216;Balu8217; Dokre
Got an extortion call recently? One that sounded very business-like? Well, the man behind it could well be Dokre, say Mumbai Police. The former sharpshooter, wanted in connection with more than 50 murders, handles Chhota Rajan8217;s operations in India and Nepal. Dokre had a major hand in the killing of Nepal MP Mirza Dilshad Baig near Kathmandu in 1998.

Lambi
Assault rifles in underworld parlance are called lambi long. The name comes from the long muzzle.

Machmach
From skilled gunrunner in the backstreets of Mumbai to Number 3 in Dawood8217;s D Company. Sheikh Fahim Ahmed or Machmach, as he was nicknamed because of his propensity for constant chatter, has come a long way. Machmach had an uncanny knack of supplying arms, without ever getting caught, to Dawood8217;s shooters in the early 8217;90s. But for all that talk, our man, currently believed to be holed up in Pakistan, is yet to fire a round.

Nana or Chhota Rajan
Chhota Rajan8217;s gang is believed to have established a strong network with several central intelligence agencies like RAW and Intelligence Bureau. The standard greeting in the Nana Company, which controls about 30 per cent of the city8217;s underworld operations, is Jai Hind. The group is believed to have targeted the men behind the 1992 bomb blasts in Mumbai. But this does not diminish their role as gangsters. Rajan, who8217;s lying low in Africa at present, or so says a Mumbai Police source, is an extremely cautious don after a well-planned attack on his life in Bangkok in 2000.

OP
Not too long back, OP or Om Prakash Singh8217;s writ ran large in numerous beer and dance bars in Mumbai. He held stakes in over 100 of the bars that throbbed with music and female dancers and still do. OP was murdered in Nashik Jail on January 26 last year. The business has been taken over by his mentor Chhota Rajan.

Paidal
What do you do after a killing or robbery? You scoot. Paidal which, in Hindi, denotes walking actually means to 8216;get lost8217; after a dirty deed. Chal paidal ho ja is an oft-used phrase in the underworld.

Qurbani
Qurbani or sacrifice is a word synonymous with the D Company. It is often used for a chess-like move, when a front-line shooter is sacrificed to gain an advantage. You willingly lose a battle to win the war.

Ravi Pujari
Pujari is the man who wants to be don, say police. The man, it is learnt, could soon start masterminding killings to get a foothold in the underworld. Pujari, feared by local transporters and hoteliers, has formed his own gang after breaking away from long-time associate Guru Satam.

Supari
Supari or contract still remains the buzzword, decades after it first entered mafia parlance. It is usually an offer or a contract to kill or stab an adversary. The same could be accepted or rejected. Huge amounts exchange hands after the supari is accepted.

Top gun
Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, India8217;s most wanted gangster and head of the estimated Rs 10,000 crore D Company, is believed to be safe and sound in Waziristan, a tribal area in northern Pakistan. Intelligence sources say he is protected by the Pakistani Inter Service Intelligence and is waiting for relations between the two countries to improve. Chhota Shakeel, his right-hand-man, is also in Pakistan. Crime branch officers believe he is involved in getting together a new bunch of shooters, most from outside Mumbai.

U-turn
A gangster takes a U-turn when he returns to where he belonged or rejoins his gang after a break.

Vastara
Vastara or razor is among the underworld8217;s favourite weapons. While possession of one does not attract serious punishment, the damage it causes is vouched for by many skilled hands.

Weapon
8216;W mat rakh apne paas8217; Don8217;t keep W with you is the message that goes out immediately after a shoot-out or killing.

Xtras
Extras are the people who assist the main shooter in a killing. They run various errands8212;from keeping watch to escaping with the weapon used in a shoot-out. An extra could also double up as the driver of the getaway car.

Yeda
A yeda is an eccentric. Associates generally keep away from such men.

Zaheer Khan
Khan was the man who wanted to be king. He got wiped off before his plan to upstage mentor Abu Salem in 2002 could reach fruition.