CRIME IN INDIA
A. General
There were 61.8 million criminal cases
reported in 1998 with a rate of 6366 per
million population. 77.8% of cases
investigated were chargesheeted in a court
of law. There were 5.7 million cases
pending in courts of which trail was
completed in 15.8% of cases and of these,
37.4% cases ended in conviction. There are
41.6 police personnel per sq. kilometers and
1360 per million population. 634 police
personnel were killed on duty during 1998.
B. Organized Crime
In India, organized crime is at its worst
in the commercial capital of India, the city
of Mumbai. The first well-known organized
gang to emerge was that of Varadharaj
Mudaliar in the early sixties. His illegal
activities included illicit liquor, gold
smuggling, gambling, extortion and
contract murders. Three other gangs
emerged shortly thereafter namely, Haji
Mastan, Yusuf Patel and Karim Lala. Haji
Mastan and Yusuf Patel resorted to gold
smuggling whereas Karim Lala operated
in drugs. During Emergency in 1975 when
there was crackdown on the Mafia, new
gangs emerged. Dawood Ibrahim, the most
successful, came in conflict with the Pathan
gangs of Alamzeb and Amirzada which led
to bitter internecine gang warfare. The
Pathan gangs were liquidated to leave the
field free for Dawood Ibrahim. In 1985,
there was increased police pressure which
made Dawood Ibrahim to flee. In March
1993, Dawood Ibrahim was behind the
serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in which 257
persons died and 713 were maimed. Public
and private property worth several millions
of rupees was destroyed. Investigation
revealed transnational character of the
conspiracy the objective of which was to
cripple the economy, create communal
divide and spread terror in the commercial
capital of India. Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger
Memon and Mohammed Dosa are
operating from Dubai. Their field of
activity is to extort money from builders
and film producers, mediate in monetary
disputes, and undertake contract (Supari)
killings. There have been instances of
investment of the dirty money in business
with the result that unsuspecting
businessmen have fallen prey to the Mafia
warfare. The killings of Thaquiuddin
Wahid of East West Airlines in 1996, Sunil
Khatau of Khatau Mills in 1994, Om
Prakash Kukreja of Kukreja Builders in
1995 and Ramnath Payyade, a prominent
hotelier in 1995 are grim reminders of
Mafia in Mumbai.
The other gangs of Mumbai indulging
in organized crime are those of Chhota
Rajan (Drug Trafficking and Contract
Killings), Arun Gawli (Contract Killings
and Protection Money), Late Amar Naik
(Protection Money) and Chhota Shakeel.
State of Maharashtra has enacted
Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime
Act, 1999.Other forms of organized crime
in India are kidnappings for ransom, gun-
running, illicit trafficking in women and
children, money laundering etc.
Organized crime exists in other cities
too, though not to the same extent as in
Mumbai. Ahmedabad city has been the
hotbed of liquor mafia because of
Prohibition policy (Banning of liquor). The
Mafia became synonymous with the name
of Latif who started in mid seventies as a
small time bootlegger and grew up to set
up a 200 strong gang after eliminating
rivals with intimidation, extortion,
kidnappings and murders. He won
municipal elections from five different
constituencies with strong political
patronage. He was killed by police in an
encounter in 1997.
There are several gangs operating in
Delhi from neighbouring State of Uttar
Pradesh indulging in kidnapping for
ransom. The going rate was around Rupees
10-50 millions. Land Mafia has political
connections and indulges in land grabbing,
intimidation, forcible vacation etc. Of late,
the ganglords of Mumbai have started
using Delhi as a place for hiding and
transit. Chhota Rajan group is
strengthening its base in Delhi.
Boom in construction activities in
Bangalore city has provided fertile
breeding for the underworld. Builders are
used for laundering black money. Forcible
vacation of old disputed buildings is a
popular side business for the underworld.
The local gangsters in the State of
Karnataka have connections with the
underworld of Mumbai. One of the
Mumbai gang operating here is the Chhota
Rajan gang.
II. ILLICIT DRUG TRAFFICKING
India is geographically situated between
the countries of Golden Triangle and
Golden Crescent and is a transit point for
narcotic drugs produced in these regions
to the West. In India opium is grown under
official control of Narcotics Commissioner
in three states namely Uttar Pradesh,
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It is
exported to foreign countries for medicinal
purposes. Indian opium is considered best
in world. Turkey & Australia are the other
licit opium growing countries in the world.
A part of the licit opium enters the illicit
market in different forms. Besides, there
is illicit cultivation of opium in the hill
tracks of some states. There is a
moderately sized chemical industry
producing precursor materials for lawful
purposes. The illicit cultivation of opium
as well as the precursor chemicals can be
used for manufacture of heroin. However,
there is a great price differential between
India and the West. A Kilogram of Heroin
that goes for a hundred thousand Rupees
in India may fetch Rupees ten million in
the international market. Illicit drug trade
in India has centered around five major
substances, namely heroin, hashish,
opium, herbal cannabis and methaqualone.
The Indo-Pak border has traditionally been
most vulnerable to drug trafficking. Drugs
trafficking through India consists of
Hashish and Heroin from Pakistan,
Hashish from Nepal, White Heroin from
Myanmar and Heroin from Bangladesh. In
the early eighties, the Border State of
Punjab became affected with
narcoterrorism with the smuggling of
narcotic drugs and arms from across the
border. This was also the time when drug
Mafia emerged in Golden Crescent
countries. There were a number of seizures
of a mixed consignment of narcotic drugs
and arms in Punjab. In 1996, 64 % of the
heroin seized was from the Golden
Crescent. Although opium production is
strictly under Goverment control in India,
illicit poppy plantations have been reported
in some places.
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