Crime In India..........

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.

Think about It-

Do Something For Save India