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COVER
STORY: GANG WARS
A
Unipolar Underworld and Bigger Worries
The
meticulous planning suggests the very forces that organised the blasts
of 1993 backed Dawood's attempt in Bangkok. Ergo, if there were people
concerned in Delhi and Mumbai it had little to do with the oft quoted
"Hindu Don VS Muslim Don" factor. Partly the worry would be
the emergence of a unipolar underworld.
But there
is a bigger worry. Ever since the serial bomb blasts there has been little
doubt that Dawood is working closely with the ISI. Dawood's network is
being utilised by the ISI to recruit people and to foment trouble in India.
Strategically, as of now, it is only Rajan who is in a position to challenge
him. Indeed, the biggest blow to the ISI in recent years, the elimination
of Nepalese MP Mirza Dilshad Beg, is seen as the handiwork of Rajan's
network. So were at least eight unsuccessful attempts on Dawood's life
(see box).
The theory
that Rajan is being treated with kid gloves by the Indian authorities
to neutralise Dawood is not entirely baseless. Three months back-in July-the
Australian police tipped off the Mumbai Police of the presence of Rajan
in Melbourne. Although a red corner notice has been with the Interpol
since 1994, the Mumbai Police still sent 17 open warrants for his arrest.
Chhagan Bhujbal, deputy chief minister in charge of home, confirms that
the papers were indeed sent "to CBI in Delhi which is the nodal agency
dealing with the Interpol". But the arrest never took place. Even
the recent shoot-out and Rajan's hospitalisation present an opportunity.
The Thai
Police revealed that Rajan had more than one passport. While he was staying
in Bangkok as Vijay Ramakrishna Kadam, he had passports in his own name,
Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje, another in the name of Lipendra Ailib from
Lucknow. All it would take is for the Indian mission to notify the local
authorities that he is a wanted man.
Whether
it does or not is in the realm of the possible. But the fact is the murder
attempt has actually generated a sort of latent sympathy for Rajan in
middle-class Mumbai. As a senior police officer points out, "It is
perhaps unfortunate but there is a feeling among some youth and even business
people that a Hindu don is required." What the officer doesn't say
is that in the perverted logic of the criminal universe, if Dawood's gang
uses jehad to cloak its activities, Rajan too now has acquired a "nationalistic
hue". In Mumbai, Verma's mother claimed her son was "a deshbhakt".
For the
moment Rajan has been shifted out of Samitivej Hospital to a safe house-but
it's Mumbai that is worried about its safety. Over the past few years
through the tenure of Mendonca and now Police Commissioner M.N. Singh,
the police has used a clear strategy to take on the underworld: "Target
the shooters and the persons who supply arms." The strategy has paid
off. In fact, after the killing of Amar Naik in 1996, most mafia figures
have left India. But this peace seems fragile now. There is apprehension
that Rajan's gang will retaliate and will do so without losing time. Indeed,
in Bangkok, Rajan's aide Santosh Shetty asserts, "They have broken
the rules of not targeting women and children. We won't be sitting quiet
for sure."
The Mumbai
Police though is unruffled. D. Sivanandhan, joint commissioner in charge
of the Crime Branch, dismisses the possibility of an escalation in gang
wars. "I don't believe there is anything for the people to fear.
But we are clear. If they come on the streets, they will not be spared."
Bhujbal agrees. "To start with we have no sympathy for either group.
If they are targeting each other nobody should lose any sleep. But if
it comes on the streets nobody will be spared."
Given the
track record of the police in containing the underworld after the troubled,
extortion-ridden months of September and October 1997, the confident words
should afford some comfort to the people of Mumbai. "For how long?"
is thus the new poser. After all the script is far from over. As with
Pulp Fiction, the shoot-out could be just the end of another chapter.
Somewhere between Karachi and Bangkok, the next episode is being scripted
for sure.
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