Mumbai underworld bares fangs in Gujarat

Mumbai underworld bares fangs in Gujarat
JOYDEEP RAY

AHMEDABAD, DEC 18:

* Three criminals who were awarded life sentences for murder and rioting by the Additional Sessions Court escaped from the court premises on December 4 helped by a 500-strong mob.

* Three miscreants, armed with a revolver and sharp weapons, robbed an angadia of cash and ornaments worth more than Rs 2.5 lakh from the busy Mithakhali area in Navrangpura on December 15 afternoon.

* Five members of a jeweller's family in Pandesara area in Surat were killed by two people who made away with a booty of gold ornaments worth Rs 1 lakh on the morning of December 15.

* A professional killer, believed to be a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, shot dead TADA detainee Jai Prakash alias Bacchi Singh Thakur in front of hundreds of eyewitnesses in Mirzapur area on December 16 afternoon.

This recent spurt in crime in the city seems to belie the police claim of ``shanti che''. Despite the rosy picture that officials paint at press conferences citing the dipping crime graph, there is no let up in criminal activity. In all four cases cited above, the incidents took place in broad daylight and in thickly-populated areas. In the Jai Prakash case, a man came, shot dead Jai Prakash and walked out even as hundreds watched.

However, police officials in Gujarat still insist that the crime rate in the state had shown a downward spiral last year and that the rate of detection remains the highest in the country.``We can assure citizens that they will not be harmed. The TADA detainee murder was a case of gang rivalry. Bacchi Singh was shot and the killer did not harm any common man,'' Assistant Commissioner (Crime) Subhash Trivedi said on Saturday.

Trivedi, who has arrested more than ten notorious criminals in last year, most of whom allegedly belong either to the Bablu Shrivastava gang or are allegedly involved with the Dawood gang, admits, ``We have to maintain strict vigil as gangsters are now eyeing Gujarat.'' Ask any other senior official and he will start comparing Gujarat with Bihar or Uttar Pradesh.

And whenever any big-time criminal is arrested in the state, officials go around claiming to have nabbed ``notorious gangsters even before they could harm citizens'. In some other cases, Mumbai-based gangs are blamed.

Director-General of Police (Intelligence Branch), R.N. Bhattacharya admits that some Mumbai-based gangs, driven out from Maharastra, have been eyeing Gujarat since the last couple of years. ``We have noticed that they are now trying to operate from this state. Some recent incidents clearly reflect this,'' he said though adding the state police was equipped to counter them. Director General of state Police C.P. Singh was not available for comment as he was away for a conference on crime in Vadodara.

Even small-time criminals seem to be taking advantage of what some allege is ``soft policing and poor detection''. Six months ago, the body of 30-year-old prostitute Teenu Sindhi was found from Nehru Bridge but her killer is yet to be caught. ``We reached a dead end in this case,'' conceded Deputy Commissioner (Zone-I) V M Pargi.

Joint Commissioner (Sector-II) B.J. Gadhvi gives the same reply when asked about the brutal murder of two women in Rakhial area eight months ago. ``We are not yet sure about involvement of either eunuch Harinarayan Badriprasad or his cousin brother but both of them are suspects,'' Gadhvi says.

Gadhvi, in-charge of the Commissionerate in absence of Commissioner, P.C. Pande, denies any laxity on part of city police. ``There has been an increase of such incidents in the recent past and we are working hard to prevent them in the future,'' he said. Pande was unavailable for comment as he was away touring in Maharashtra.