Donning a new form: Bengaluru’s underworld

The city’s gangsters have transitioned from long stints in prison and violent turf wars to real estate dealings, political careers and discreet operations

Those who live by the sword, die by the sword.”

This biblical proverb might have been apt for Bengaluru’s underworld when the city had not yet transformed into a concrete jungle overrun with real estate development projects.

But as the pensioners’ paradise became the IT capital of India and land sharks took over, Bengaluru’s criminal underbelly also changed shape.

Until about 20 years ago, the city’s underworld mirrored the textbook image of a violent, take-no-prisoners enterprise. Long stints in prison and violent deaths at the hands of rivals or police were expected outcomes. It also boasted of a don. Not anymore.

Modern-day rowdies in ‘Namma Bengaluru’ dream of making money through real estate dealings, living lavish lives and dabbling in politics.

This change took years to materialise and was brought about by three key events.

Read | Why and how do rowdies thrive in Bengaluru?

The first, in 1994, was the formation of the rowdy squad. Stung by the brazen actions of rowdy elements and criticised by the press, then Bengaluru police chief T Srinivasulu formed the squad on the advice of his trusted officer H R Kasturirangan. He put his officers — B B Ashok Kumar, B K Shivaram, T G Sangram Singh, Abdul Azim, K P Bheemaiah and K V K Reddy — in the squad.

The squad killed many gangsters, including ‘Deadly’ Soma, in police encounters.

The real estate boom after 2005 was another landmark event in Bengaluru’s organised crime scene.

“In the past, we had to fight for mamool (money/profits). The situation is entirely different now. When you can make money through real estate deals, why would you want to attack or kill your rival and rot in jail?” asks a rowdy from southern Bengaluru.

Years later, Shankar M Bidari ordered a sweeping crackdown on rowdy elements when he held the reins of the city police between 2008 and 2011. During this period, 13 rowdies were killed in police encounters. Bidari put Alok Kumar, who then headed the Central Crime Branch (CCB), in charge of curbing rowdyism. Gangsters feared police guns silencing them.

Bidari also held Jana Samparka Sabhas in his office thrice a week to address public grievances. As a result, gang wars have declined since 2011.

Gangsters turned managers

Today, ganglords want to remain invisible, confining themselves to managerial roles and portraying a clean image in public. The dirty work is done by their foot soldiers.

Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Sandeep Patil agrees. “In recent times, most notorious rowdies are not getting directly involved in crimes, but are getting them done through their associates. There are hardly any complaints against them.”

Staying away from direct involvement in crimes is a win-win. A rowdy can close his rowdy sheet this way, boost his public image, and launch a career in social services and politics, explains a notorious rowdy from southern Bengaluru.

In the past, money-making options were limited to controlling the oil supply, running prostitution rackets and extorting money from live band joints and businessmen.

Now, gangsters are given to working more in tandem with politicians, government officials and cops, says a retired police officer who has led crackdowns on rowdies in the past. “It is an association with mutual benefits,” he adds.

While soaring land prices have prompted rowdy-sheeters like ‘Silent’ Sunil, ‘JCB’ Narayana, ‘Wilson Garden’ Naga, ‘Bettanagere’ Shankara and ‘Cycle’ Ravi to divert their spheres of activity to real estate, some gangsters have continued to be involved in extortion and kidnapping.

Rowdies identify vacant sites, create fake documents or threaten the owner to grab land. Most of their victims are from the middle and lower middle classes, and can hardly afford legal recourse.

Five years ago, for instance, a person from Kerala bought three acres of land in Devanahalli. The original owner, a farmer, registered the property to the Kerala man. During registration, part of the amount was paid in the form of a demand draft (DD), and the rest was paid in cash.

The DD, however, never reached the farmer. It was encashed by middlemen. The farmer filed a case in court, and the buyer filed a counter case.

On learning that the case could be ruled in favour of the farmer, the buyer contacted a local rowdy.

The Kerala man paid around Rs 1 crore to the rowdy to settle the dispute. The rowdy often began to trouble the farmer with threats and intimidation. He would threaten to file false atrocity cases or get him killed.

The case is still on.

In many land disputes, the buyer or original owner approaches rowdies in the area instead of authorities for help.

A rowdy from East Bengaluru says, "If land prices had not soared, gang wars would have continued. But now, all rowdies want to rule Bengaluru by becoming financially strong. Most of us do not want to become dons.”

"Since we are already in the field, we need to maintain our public image and keep the boys motivated to get our work done," he adds.

Dons of the past

Between 1970 and 2000, gang wars were at their peak in Bengaluru. Turf domination and the mamool collected from live bands and prostitution dens were at stake.

Mune Gowda, also known as 'Kodigehalli' Mune Gowda, is considered the first organised crime boss in Bengaluru. He was succeeded by M P Jayaraj.

Jayaraj was arrested on the charge of assualting a rival named 'Thigalarapete' Gopi on court premises and spent years in prison. Following this, rival gangsters ‘Kotwal’ Ramachandra and ‘Oil’ Kumar took over.

Benakanahalli Alappa Shivakumar, aka 'Oil' Kumar, got the moniker because he controlled the adulterated oil trade, one of the major sources of income for rowdies in the 1980s. He was killed in Sadashivanagar in 1990.

'Kotwal' Ramachandra was killed in 1986 by four assailants near Kunigal in Tumakuru. Jayaraj's aides, including 'Agni' Sridhar, were believed to be involved in this killing.

In 1989, 'Station' Shekar, Jayaraj's right-hand man, died in what was the first killing of a gangster in a police encounter. A porter at the Bengaluru city railway station, Shekar controlled the thriving private bus travel mafia at Majestic.

The same year, Jayaraj was shot dead near Siddapura, just before the state Assembly elections. He had filed his nomination papers for the election from the Jayanagar Assembly constituency as an independent candidate. He was considered close to M D Nataraj, the son-in-law of a former chief minister of Karnataka.

The murders of Jayaraj and 'Oil' Kumar were blamed on Muthappa Rai, who hoped to take over the reins of the Bengaluru underworld. The charges were never proven.

‘Saanp’ Nayeem and ‘Koli’ Fayaz, feared rowdies who vied to rule Shivajinagar and other Muslim-dominated areas, met violent deaths in the 1990s.

Other names to make a mark on Bengaluru's organised crime scene were ‘Bekkina Kannu’ Rajendra, ‘Deadly’ Soma, 'Nasru' alias Syed Nasru, Vijayakumar alias 'Kavala' and Tanvir.

'Bekkina Kannu' Rajendra was at his peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, controlling government contracts in the Bangalore Development Authority and the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.

Cable TV was another trade that rowdies vied to control because of the lucrative money they could earn through monthly subscriptions. There have been frequent turf wars and dozens of murders over this trade.

Nasru, along with another dreaded gangster Vijayakumar, was notorious for kidnapping live band artistes, holding them hostage and sexually abusing them. Nasru was killed in a police encounter in 2005 while Kavala was murdered by his rivals in 2014.

‘Silent’ Sunil’s 'official' arrival on the scene was sudden. He got the moniker because he always carried out his operations quietly. He was arrested for Rajendra’s murder in 2004 and spent years behind bars. Like in the case of other rowdy murders, this charge was also not proved. After his acquittal, Sunil got into real estate and continues to play an active role.

A senior serving officer says the days of internecine disputes among rowdies are over. "Most big-time rowdies have settled their disputes but their disciples continue to fight," he says.