Gangland Killings Leave Scars On Mumbais Image

Mumbais image has suffered due to a spate of gangland killings in the last few months, according to Maharashtra Governor PC Alexander.

The Governor, who also holds charge of Goa, said that there is a (law and order) problem there. If you judge things by the operations of gangsters, by the builders bumped off - either by gangsters or rival builders - and by the film personalities killed, there is a problem, he said.

Mumbais image has suffered in a way, he said during a visit here yesterday. News cannot be contained. There is a dent in the image (of Mumbai). The most prominent of the many suspected contract killings by the underworld in Mumbai was that of music and entertainment magnate Gulshan Kumar on August 12.

 

If you compare general house breaking cases or dacoity cases, the situation is much the same as elsewhere, he said. But Alexander did not agree with the view that gangsters being killed in encounters with police were those of only one group - followers of Arun Gawli, who has become a political rival of the states ruling coalition member Shiv Sena.

Alexander alleged that of the four gangs operating in Mumbai, the Dawood Ibrahim gang operated from Dubai and Pakistan, while the Chotta Rajan gang was headquartered in Malaysia. Since the Amar Naik clique was down and out after its leaders killing, this meant that the Gawli gang was the only one active and being tackled locally, he said.

Asked whether he had undertaken a study of the gangs operating in Indias commercial capital, Alexander said assertively: Yes I have.

Alexander, a former bureaucrat, was full of praise for Mumbais new police chief R.H. Mendonca and said that he had spoken to him about allegations that the encounters against certain gangsters were being stage-managed.

They (suspected gangsters) complain (that the encounters are fake). But the police strongly refute that, and we have a very competent police commissioner, Alexander said. I have regard for his integrity.

He hinted that his tenure in Goa might be coming to an end, since some major states - including Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh - were expected to get new governors shortly.

Asked about bills in the Goa Assembly which had failed to get his assent - including the new Police Bill and the anti-smoking law - the Governor said the first contained some provisions which might be going against the Constitution while the state government was having second thoughts on the latter and wanted to revise some of its clauses.