Rowdies enter the Karnataka poll ring, parties trade punches

Several persons associated with the Bengaluru gangland have emerged as key figures in Karnataka politics over the years. There are leaders in the Congress and the BJP, now in their 50s and 60s, who were closely associated with Bengaluru’s gangsters — Jayaraj, Kotwal Ramachandra, Muthappa Rai and others — in their youth.
With the 2023 elections for the Karnataka Assembly barely a few months away, there is a new generation of gangsters looking at gaining respectability by entering politics. Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a political controversy in Karnataka about many gangsters making a beeline to join the state BJP.
The Karnataka Congress has attacked the BJP over the recent inductions of gangsters, and has launched a website called BJP Rowdy Morcha.

“BJP has taken away the morale of the police, who are conducting operations against these rowdies,” the state Congress tweeted. “Earlier, if they saw rowdies, the police would kick them and drag them away. Now, due to BJP’s ‘rowdy politics’, they are being saluted by the police. Today’s rowdies are tomorrow’s BJP leaders,” the Congress said.

The BJP has hit back by listing the names of Congress leaders with alleged criminal history. It also claimed that the Congress state president D K Shivakumar “was an aide of a notorious rowdy”, and that state Youth Congress president Mohammed Harris Nalapad was himself a “rowdy”.

Among the gangsters seeking BJP tickets are:

Sunil Kumar alias Silent Sunil, 41

A silent operator in recent years in the Bengaluru underworld, Silent Sunil achieved early notoriety through his involvement in multiple crimes — including murders. He is considered by the police to be a key figure in the world of organised crime in the city.
The presence of two Bengaluru BJP MPs — Tejasvi Surya and P C Mohan, as well as BJP MLA Uday Garudachar, the son of a former police officer — at a blood donation camp organised by Silent Sunil in Bengaluru’s Chickpet, brought the issue of ties between gangsters and politicians to the fore. The BJP leaders were seen participating in the event with Sunil, even as police were carrying out a crackdown on gangsters in the city.

Even before the controversy broke out, there was speculation that Silent Sunil was being considered as a candidate by the BJP for the Chamrajpet Assembly seat in Bengaluru against the Congress’s sitting MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan. Following the controversy, the BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel indicated that Silent Sunil would not be inducted into the BJP.

“While Silent Sunil has not been directly involved in murders in recent years, he is still considered a key operator in organised crime in the city,” police sources said.
In the course of cases of organised crime brought in 2017 against him, Silent Sunil was shown by the police as “the head of an organised crime syndicate” who has been involved in crimes since 1996, with 17 cases registered against him — including three of murder, five of attempt-to-murder and other cases of extortion and dacoity.
A few years ago, Silent Sunil had a run-in with a senior Bengaluru city police officer over an attempt to stare down the officer during a crackdown on criminal elements in the city.
Silent Sunil is one of the gangsters featured in a parody website called BJP Rowdy Morcha recently launched by the Congress. A film on the life of Sunil Kumar, titled Silent Sunila, produced by a former Bengaluru underworld operative, is currently under production. The film stars Silent Sunil himself and is scheduled for release ahead of the 2023 Karnataka polls.

Ravi alias Fighter Ravi alias Mallikarjuna B M, 51

Unlike Silent Sunil, Fighter Ravi has already been inducted into BJP’s Nagamangala unit in Mandya, and is reportedly an aspirant for a ticket to contest the 2023 polls from the region.
A cricket bookie, Mallikarjun alias Fighter Ravi, is also allegedly involved in other criminal activities. Ravi has been in close proximity with several former police officers in Bengaluru. A majority of cases against the bookie and alleged gangster over the past decade pertain to IPL seasons. He had a major run-in with a senior Bengaluru cop a few years ago over his illegal activities. Ravi filed a complaint of extortion against the officer with the Lokayukta.
Fighter Ravi, who is also a realtor, has stated that he wants to join politics to ‘clean the system’. He was recently inducted into the BJP in the presence of party leaders, including the minister for higher education, Dr. C N Ashwathnarayan.

“The BJP earlier had an association with white-collar rowdies [read: businessmen]. Now they are associating with real rowdies. “Wanted criminals are now wanted by the BJP”,” the Karnataka Congress said on social media over the induction of persons with criminal records into the BJP.
BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel has not commented on the induction of Fighter Ravi, but has indicated that persons with criminal records will not be given tickets.

J Nagaraja alias Wilson Garden Naga, 34

The gangster from the Wilson Garden area of central Bengaluru was recently spotted at the home of the Karnataka Housing Minister and veteran Bengaluru MLA, V Somanna. Naga is among the gangsters with active criminal records, with cases filed against him for murder and drug trafficking as recently as 2020 and 2021.
Wilson Garden Naga is accused in the 2020 murder of a fellow history-sheeter Subramanya in the Annapoorneshwari Nagar police limits. He is also accused in a 2021 drug trafficking case in the Koramangala police limits, where a suspect who was arrested for trafficking, has allegedly named Naga as the financier of his activities. The gangster was enlarged on bail in the cases.
The housing minister V Somanna has denied association with Wilson Garden Naga. “I have been in politics for 55 years. I do not need to associate with such people. Many people come to visit me and that does not mean an association,” the BJP minister said.

The campaign poster of Bettanagare Shankar

Bettanagere Shankar, 48

The gangster from the Nelamangala area on the outskirts of Bengaluru is reported to have joined the BJP recently in the Mysuru region. He has declared himself to be a BJP leader, using the name Nallur Shankar Gowda, and has been pictured with several BJP leaders from the Mysuru region in recent times.
The gangster is infamous for a bloody feud with his cousin Bettanagere Seena, who was killed in a police encounter in 2012, that left several people dead. He is accused of orchestrating attempts on the life of his cousin and bitter rival inside the Mysuru and Gulbarga prisons in 2011 — using pistols that were supplied in the prison premises.
He is alleged to be involved in land deals around the periphery of Bengaluru. A Kannada film titled Bettanagere was released in 2015 that documented the Bettanagere gangsters and the bloody power feud between Bettanagere Shankar and his cousin Srinivas alias Bettanagere Seena. One of Bettanagere Shankar’s political godfathers, BEML Krishnappa, who was associated with the JDS, was murdered by his cousin in 2012.