#Bombayphile: When Mumbai Underworld Collaborated With UP Gangsters

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This week's Bombayphile couldn't be published on Sunday, as I had gone to my native village in Barabanki of Uttar Pradesh to attend my grandfather's funeral. While returning back, I met Mr, Rajesh Pandey at Lucknow. Mr.Pandey is a retired IPS officer and a founding member of the famed Special Task Force (STF) of the UP Police. Since the time Yogi Adityanath became the CM of UP, the STF has been often in the news for killing history-sheeters in the alleged encounters.

Mr. Pande, after his retirement, is successfully running a YouTube channel where he tells stories of crime. Recently, he became an author as well by publishing his first book "Operation Bajooka". The book is based on his hunt for Sriprakash Shukla, who had become UP's most dreaded gangster in the 90s and even conspired to murder then CM Kalyan Singh. An hour-long conversation with him at his residence surprised me. Although Mr.Pandey had never served in the Maharashtra Police, he had an in-depth knowledge of the Mumbai underworld. It was with his help that the police in Mumbai were able to crack many important cases in the city. The Mumbai Police had to work in tandem with their UP counterparts because the gangs of Mumbai had forged a collaboration with the gangsters of the UP.

The J.J.Hospital shootout of 1992 to avenge the murder of Dawood's brother-in-law Ibrahim Parker by Arun Gawli gang was executed by hitmen from UP. Dawood assigned Brijesh Singh, Subhash Singh Thakur and other UP based gangster to execute a shootout that is considered to be the biggest in Mumbai. Over 500 rounds of bullets were fired and for the first time an AK-47 rifle was used by the underworld.

Abu Salem, who defected from the Dawood gang in 1997 also called gangsters from UP to kill his targets. Many of his shooters hailed from Azamgarh, his native district in UP. Chhota Shakeel, the top lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim, also hails from UP and recruits hitmen from his home state. Even Arun Gawli, whose gang members were mostly from Maharashtrian mill workers families, also hired shooters from UP. Mr.Pandey told me that the Mumbai Police had asked for his help to nab a few shooters based in Unnao district of UP, who were hired by Gawli to bump off film maker Madhur Bhandarkar. As per the Mumbai Police, an actress aggrieved with Bhandarkar had given a contract to Gawli to kill him.

 

Even Chhota Rajan had men from UP in his gang and prominent among them was Omprakash Singh aka OP. Singh's native place was Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and joined the underworld after his brother was killed by the gangsters of Amar Naik gang for deposing as a witness in another shootout. Naik's shooter were on the lookout for Singh as well, but he came in contact with Chhota Rajan who offered him protection and inducted him in the gang. Soon Singh became a trsutworthy man of Chhota Rajan and took major decisions for the gang. However, once Rajan was told that Singh was planning to defect from the gang in connivance with a police officer. Allegedly on the instructions of Rajan, his other gang members killed Singh inside the Nasik jail in 2002.

The gangs in Mumbai chose gangsters from UP for several reasons. Firstly, they had no criminal record in Mumbai and hence couldn't come on the Mumbai Police ' radar before killing someone. Secondly, they were cheap. A teenager from UP could come and kill someone in Mumbai just for Rupees 5,000. They were provided return flight tickets by the gangs. Another factor was their daredevilry. For money, they could make an attempt on someone who was protected by the police.

(Bombayphile is published every Sunday where Jitendra Dixit writes about the past and the present of Mumbai.) 

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