The police hitlist include three criminals from the Chhota Shakeel gang, three Chhota Rajan men, three from the Gawli gang and one Ashwin Naik gang member. Assistant Commissioner of Police, crime, Pradeep Sawant, told presspersons on Monday: ``This is a part of a crackdown by joint commissioner of police, crime, D Sivanandhan.'' Anybody who tips off the police on the whereabouts of these criminals has been assured a reward.

Shakeel aide Feroz Konkani, who escaped police custody recently, is `most wanted' in all respects. Involved in 15 serious offences, Konkani is also the only cop-killer of the pack. Other Shakeel men are Arif Kalya and Shagir Shaikh, each wanted in three murder cases and several extortion cases.

Among the Gawli men, Bandya Adivalekar has been described as the head honchoof Gawli's empire. He is wanted in four murder cases, while his brothers-in-arms include Sharad Bandwe and Dilip Kulkarni, alias D K.

Gawli's men are the only ones in the list to figure in some of Mumbai's most sensational killings, including those of builder Manish Shah, matka king Vasantlal Shah and industrialist Milap Jain. Gawli gangmen have also been charged with the maximum numbers of extortions registered this year.

The Chhota Rajan gang is also not far behind in terms of activity levels.

This is the only gang whose robbers have made the deadly switch to contract killing. Rajan's top lieutenant Rohit Verma and ace shooter Vinod Matkar were both robbers before evolving into killers. The third sharpshooter Ramya Surve, alias Butler, is said to be one of the gang's most notorious members.

The Ashwin Naik gang has a lone representative: sharpshooter Lalit Vishwakarma, alias Lali, who is wanted in four major killings. All his victims are connected to the Gawli gang in one way or another. Theyinclude Akhil Bhartiya Sena treasurer Ramdas Ambaokar, office bearer Narayan Bhidye and Gawli aides Lalit Shah and Eknath Khanvilkar.

The state government has announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for Konkani, and information on other criminals will be ``suitably rewarded'', said Sawant. Senior police inspector of the computer wing, Amarjeet Singh, added: ``We have floated identikits, sketches and profiles of the criminals on the Internet, so that we can be alerted about their presence not just in the country, but anywhere in the world.''