Organised crime in India
Organised crime in India or Indian organized crime refers to organised crime elements originating in India and those who are active in other parts of the world.The purpose of organised crime in India, as elsewhere in the world, is monetary gain. Its virulent form in modern times is due to several socio-economic and political factors and advances in science and technology. There is no firm data to indicate the number of organised criminal gangs operating in the country, their membership, their modus operandi, and the areas of their operations. Their structure and leadership patterns may not strictly fall in line with the classical Sicilian Mafia.
Indian organized crime is also prevalent outside of India, mainly in western countries such as Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. In Canada Indian organized crime groups have been involved in extortion, targeted violence and terrorism. The ongoing diplomatic row between Canada and India is in relation to this. Unrelated to the established crime groups in India, are there also crime groups of Indian-origin engaging in criminal activities such as drugtrafficking, extortion, smuggling and money laundering in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Mumbai underworld
is the financial capital of India. Over a period of time, the Mumbai underworld has been dominated by several different groups and mobsters.1940s–1980s
The powerful trio of Haji Mastan, Varadarajan Mudaliar, and Karim Lala enjoyed backing from their communities.Haji Mastan, originally known as Mastan Haider Mirza, was a Bombay-based Tamil mobster who became the first celebrity gangster in the city of Bombay. Born in 1926 in a Tamil family in Pannaikulam, near Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu. At age 8, he moved to Bombay with his father. The father–son duo ran a small cycle repair shop in Crawford market. Ten years later, in 1944, Mastan joined the Bombay docks as a porter and from there entered organised crime. He worked in association with Karim Lala and by the 1960s became a rich man. He amassed millions from smuggling gold, silver, and electronic goods and expanded his clout in the film industry by investing his money with directors and studios in Bollywood film production. As Mastan's influence in Bollywood grew, he began to produce films himself and was a well-known producer.
Varadarajan Mudaliar, popularly known as Vardha Bhai, was a Bombay-based ethnic Tamil mobster. He came to be known as Vardhabhai, operated from the early 1960s to 1980, and was accorded equal clout to Haji Mastan and Karim Lala. Starting off as a porter, he had his first brush with the crime world when he began selling illicit liquor. He commanded much respect within the Tamil community and ran a parallel justice system where his verdict was the final law of the land and binding in areas such as Dharavi and Matunga, which are believed to have a large presence of Tamils. Mudaliar, in tandem with Haji Mastan, ventured into stealing dock cargo. He later diversified into contract killings and the narcotics trade. He enjoyed a successful stint in the 1970s controlling the criminal operations in the east and north-central Bombay. Karim Lala commanded south and central Bombay, and the majority of smuggling and illegal construction financing was Haji Mastan's domain.
Karim Lala and his family members' groups operated in the Bombay docks. They were often called "Afghan mafia" or "Pathan mafia", terms coined by Bombay law enforcement because the majority of this crime syndicate's members were ethnic Pashtuns from Afghanistan's Kunar province. They were especially involved in hashish trafficking, protection rackets, extortion, illegal gambling, gold smuggling, and contract killings and held a firm stranglehold over parts of Mumbai's underworld. Lala controlled bootlegging and gambling in the city in 1940, and was the undisputed king of the trade until 1985.
1980s–present
is the organised crime group controlled by Dawood Ibrahim which originated in Mumbai. It has been argued that the D-Company is not a stereotypical organised crime cartel in the strict sense of the word, but rather a collusion of criminal terrorist groups based around Ibrahim's personal control and leadership. Ibrahim is currently on Interpol's wanted list for cheating, criminal conspiracy, and running an organised crime syndicate, and in 2008 he was number two on Forbes' list of The World's 10 Most Wanted. He is accused of heading an illegal empire against India and Indians. After the 1993 Bombay bombings, which Ibrahim allegedly organised and financed with Tiger Memon, both men became part of India's most wanted. According to the United States Department of the Treasury, Ibrahim may have had ties with Osama bin Laden. Consequently, the United States declared Ibrahim a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" in 2003 and pursued the matter before the United Nations in an attempt to freeze his assets around the world and crack down on his operations. Indian and Russian intelligence agencies have pointed out Ibrahim's possible involvement in several other terror attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Ever since he went into hiding, Ibrahim's location has been frequently traced to Karachi, Pakistan, a claim which Pakistani authorities have denied.Chotta Rajan is the boss of a major crime syndicate based in Mumbai. He was a former key aide and lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim. Starting as a petty thief and bootlegger working for Rajan Nair, also known as Bada Rajan, Chota Rajan took the reins of Bada Rajan's gang after Bada Rajan's murder. Later, he was affiliated with and operated at the behest of Dawood in Mumbai and eventually fled India to Dubai in 1988. He is wanted for many criminal cases that include extortion, murder, smuggling, drug trafficking, and film finance. His brother is said to produce films financed by Rajan. He is wanted in 17 murder cases and several more attempted murders. Chhota Rajan was arrested in Bali by Indonesian police on 25 October 2015. He was extradited to India on 6 November after 27 years on the run and is currently awaiting trial in CBI custody.
Arun Gawli's gang is based at Dagdi Chawl in Byculla, Mumbai. Gawli started his criminal activities there and used the rooms there for keeping kidnapped persons, torturing them, extorting money from them, and murdering them. The police raided the premises several times and finally broke his operations. He has been arrested several times for criminal activities and detained for long periods during a trial. However, he could not be convicted in most of the cases as witnesses would not depose against him for fear. He, along with eleven others, were finally convicted for the murder of Shiv Sena politician Kamalakar Jamsandekar by a court in August 2012.
Colonial times
Dacoity
Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindustani word daaku, "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning, it appears in the Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases. Banditry is criminal activity involving robbery by groups of armed bandits. The East India Company established the Thuggee and Dacoity Department in 1830, and the Thuggee and Dacoity Suppression Acts, 1836–1848 were enacted in British India under East India Company rule. Areas with ravines or forests, such as Chambal and Chilapata Forests, were once known for dacoits.Thuggee
were crimes carried out by organized gangs of robbers and murderers which operated in the northern and eastern parts of the Indian subcontinent. Thugs were gangs of highway robbers, who tricked and strangled their victims with a handkerchief or noose. They would then rob and bury their victims. Sometimes they mutilated the corpses of their victims to avoid detection. The leader of a gang was called a 'jemadar'. The usage of military ranks like 'jemadar', 'subedar' and 'private' suggests that these gangs had military links. Although strangulation was their main method of murder, they also used blades and poison. The thugs comprised some who had inherited thuggee as a family vocation, and others who were forced to turn to it out of necessity. The leadership of many of the groups tended to be hereditary with family members sometimes serving together in the same band. Such Thugs were known as aseel. Not all thugs were trained by their family but rather by experienced thugs called 'guru'. While they usually kept their acts a secret, female thugs also existed and were called baronee in Ramasee, while an important male Thug was called baroo.Thugs considered themselves to be the children of Kali, having been created from her sweat.