It is said that no one in Mumbai goes to bed hungry. It’s also known as the City of Opportunity, but it has another face, one that’s even scarier. Haji Mastan aka Sultan Mirza, who worked as a porter in the Mumbai port, built a network of goons and miscreants while conducting petty smuggling and the entire city started to follow suit his approach. After Mirza, his disciples succeeded to the throne. In the meantime, other bosses kept coming in and out.
Mumbai’s underworld has once again become a topic of discussion after NCP leader Baba Siddiqui was murdered on the streets of Bandra on Saturday night. The incident occurred at a time when Mumbai’s underworld was thought to be dying. But no, the criminal world created decades ago still exists. Let us know when and how the underworld takes over the city of dreams. Who were those gangsters who made the whole of Mumbai tremble?
Its sporadic beginnings have begun with Karim Lala. Lala was born in Afghanistan and came to Mumbai in the 1930s and got involved in the money lending business. At the same time, his circle of acquaintances began to expand, and he also began to dabble in gambling and bookmaking. Soon, coins named after Lala began to circulate in south Mumbai. He had an entire group called the Patan Gang. Illegal business expanded from gambling and betting to smuggling, extortion, and political connections. All of this is intricately intertwined.
Interestingly, even though Karim Lala is a criminal, his image is that of Robin Hood. People from poorer classes, especially from Afghanistan, were willing to do anything for him. This is how the army of disciples was formed. The sequence continues further.
Even as Karim Lala bursts into Mumbai, Haji Mastan’s underworld carries a touch of glamor and terror. In the 1930s, Haji Mastan’s father ran a piercing shop in Mumbai. His son found a job at the port. At that time, a large number of goods came to Bombay Port from abroad. Mustang started working there as a porter and soon became a smuggler. Within a few years, the entire city knew Mustang.
When Mustang is wearing white clothes and walking in a white Mercedes-Benz, his status is different. It is said that the man himself never killed anyone, but even so, many thugs, large and small, tremble at his name.
While the name came and went, the Bombay Textile Strike took place in Bombay. After strikes in the early 1980s, the textile industry almost came to a standstill. At the same time, thousands of people were suddenly unemployed. During times of economic crisis, young people begin to join local gangs. These local gangs are actually connected to some of the big bosses. Smaller groups began extorting money at the local level, while larger groups began extorting money at a larger level. Between the 1980s and 1990s, the underworld spread to every corner of the city like an illegal but thorough business. He has influence over politicians and Bollywood.
After Haji Mastan, his disciple Dawood Ibrahim took the underworld to a different level. Daoud’s gang, known as D-Company, was involved in activities including smuggling gold and electronics and running a drug cartel. But Mumbai saw the horrific face of Company D in March 1993, when bomb blasts hit 12 areas of the city, starting with the stock exchange. The serial explosions killed more than 250 people and injured about 1,000 people.
After these attacks, Daoud went into hiding. But the crime continues. Along with this, many other faces have also arrived like Chhota Rajan and Arun Gawli. There have also been fights between many big guys. From Bollywood to politics, every big shot must have such a hand on their head.
In 1997 organized crime was under control. In August that year, after the murder of Gulshan Kumar was found to involve the underworld, all investigative agencies, including the police, became active. Arrests started happening.
Within two years, MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act) was implemented across the state. This law aims to combat organized crime and aims to end money laundering, terrorism and other similar serious crimes. Under this, the police were given a great deal of freedom. Coordination between police and intelligence agencies has also been enhanced in Maharashtra. Many encounters occurred during this period, and it seems that the underworld in Mumbai may not be over yet, but it has become very weak. However, with the murder of Baba Siddiqui, the void seems to have been filled again.
Lawrence Bishnoi is a new branch of the gang whose headquarters are not in Mumbai but whose personnel are in other states. The Lawrence gang, which came into the limelight due to the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala in 2022, is highly technological and will not be easy to catch. Lawrence is currently incarcerated in Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat, but he reportedly runs his business from behind bars.
Why is Mumbai’s underworld still rampant?
There are many reasons for this. Above all, it is the economic capital of the country, where the flow of money continues. Secondly, Mumbai’s coastline facilitates international smuggling. The media’s spotlight is always on the city because of Bollywood. With this, it is easy for the underworld to shape and shine its own image.
But why is Bollywood associated with it?
There is also selfishness on both sides behind this. It takes a lot of money to make a movie. Many manufacturers are unable to obtain loans from banks. The underworld will have black money reserves. They used it in the movie and they got a big chunk of the profits from it. As a result, film producers began to receive funds easily and the influence of the underworld increased. It is even said that D Company and Chhota Rajan herself recommended the names of actors and actresses for the film. Many movies were made in the nineties that portrayed gangsters as sad Robin Hoods.
