INDIA: Booming property market attracting young criminals
Updated
Is a changing of the guard taking place in the Mumbai Mafia? That's the question being asked as the star of India's most notorious mafia don, Dawood Ibrahim, appears to be waning and a new breed of young criminal bosses move in on the booming property and film businesses in Mumbai.
Bill Bainbridge
Presenter:
Speakers: Ajey Lele, Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis; Meeran Borwankar; Joint Commissioner of Police in Mumbai
BAINBRIDGE: In the 1970s crime films like Zanjeer were the staple of Bollywood's movie industry fixated on the rise of the apparently untouchable Bombay Mafia. These days Bollywood success is reported to be helping fuel a mafia comeback. Young dons are investing in the film industry as well as making money from extortion in the booming real estate market in the city now known as Mumbai.
Ajey Lele, Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, explains.
LELE: The activities and you see there are two criminal groups become big into by doing some organised crimes and they have earned money. Then they have started putting the money into production business. So what happens is that their not only interested in doing some sort of a drug activity or something. They understand that there is huge money involved into these things. So they have started supplying money either underhand or as a sleeping sort of an agent to the main producers. So their major activity is involved is essentially supply of this money to the producers.
BAINBRIDGE: In the mid 90s, police launched a massive crackdown on the crime syndicates. But the very public shooting of a police informer in a Mumbai restaurant in May has the police tentatively talking about a mafia revival.
Thirty-two-year-old Sukesh Shetty was the fourth informer to be killed since last October. He was a known associate of the 35-year-old Hemant Pujari, reported to be one of the new generation of mafia dons.
The younger gangsters are said to be filling the vacuum left by more established Dons, like Dawood Ibrahim. As the leader of the D-company he controlled a huge empire with links to terrorist organisations. Dawood is accused of masterminding a series of bomb blasts through Mumbai in 1993 that killed 257 people. Authorities say they have his organisation under pressure as Meeran Borwankar, Joint commissioner of Police in Mumbai, told a news conference after Dawood's sister was brought before court in early June.
BORWANKAR: The crimes indicate leaders themselves are scared, their families are scared. That also gives strong message to their followers.
BAINBRIDGE: Dawood is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, where he is said to have the protection of the Pakistani intelligence organisation the ISI.
Ajey Lele says his organisation still runs a huge criminal empire, but nonetheless is at its lowest ebb.
LELE: The group is at its lowest ebb right now, because there's a huge court case currently going on. Because these groups subsequently have some links with ISI of Pakistan and was involved in terrorist activities in India. So definitely now there's all criminal organisations are also fully aware that any sort of a linkage with terrorist activities then government will just get them. So they are also expanding too much, that's what my reading is.
BAINBRIDGE: But he is sceptical that new gangs are moving in.
LELE: Now we have liberalised our economy. All these groups had at one stage when our economy was not that liberalised. Now since liberalisation of economy has taken place, India is doing pretty well in the areas now of information technology and other technology. So all those sorts of electronic gadgets and gold which were essentially their aim of doing smuggling and earning money on that. Those gadgets no longer have that sort appeal which it had in the late 80's or I can say just beginning part of early 90's.
BAINBRIDGE: He says while the media is reporting an upsurge in gang related activity he believes it is still business as usual.
LELE: On and off, these activities have been happening for quite some time, almost for last four to five decades. But recently, media is getting more attention towards these activities and so the acts are in news. Otherwise I personally feel things are almost a status quo is being maintained.
