A Feast of Vultures: The Hidden Business of Democracy in India by Josy Joseph

Author:Josy Joseph [Joseph, Josy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: null
Publisher: HarperCollins India
Published: 2016-07-09T18:30:00+00:00

On 12 September 1992, assistant police inspector Krishnavtar Gulabsingh Thakur was preparing to stretch out on a couch and grab some sleep. His colleagues, constables P.G. Javsen and K.B. Bhanawat, were fast asleep just outside Ward 18 of JJ Hospital, with their .303 rifles resting against the benches. Inside the ward slept Shailesh Haldankar, a member of the Arun Gawli gang, which competed with the then dominant Dawood gang. Bombay’s underworld directly or indirectly controlled many businesses, including construction and Hindi films, and were a significant force in local politics.

Haldankar was fast asleep, assured of police protection against possible revenge attacks. Only a few days before, he had stunned the city by gunning down Dawood’s brother-in-law, Ibrahim Parker. Parker’s killing had infuriated Dawood. For him, it was both a challenge to his authority in Bombay and an emotional setback.

A couple quietly walked into the hospital campus around 1.30 a.m. and carried out a detailed reconnaissance of the facilities, undisturbed for over an hour. They left the hospital premises and reported to Dawood’s six handpicked hitmen that Haldankar and his associate, Bipin Shere, were in Ward 18, protected only by a police officer and four constables. They mapped out the location and the exit points from the hospital.

At 3.40 a.m., the six men walked unchallenged into Ward 18, armed with weapons, including an AK-47, a first even for Bombay’s crime syndicates. The hit squad began firing indiscriminately. Haldankar was dead in no time, the policemen scrambled to safety behind overturned furniture. The hitmen noticed that Shere, their second target, was not there, even as they turned their sights on the policemen. Inspector Thakur took cover behind a couch, pulled out his service revolver and fired at them. Constables Bhanawat and Javsen began firing their rifles, injuring two of the shooters.

The hit squad fired back at the police team in an attempt to break through. Two of the constables were fatally wounded, while a third was shot in the leg. There was collateral damage: a nurse, a patient and a relative of the patient were injured. During those five long minutes, over 500 rounds were fired in Ward 18. For the Bombay underworld, which carefully avoided confrontation with the police, this was an unprecedented and dramatic attack. It unleashed far-reaching political and business repercussions locally, nationally and, eventually, internationally.

East West Airlines got caught in the crossfire.

Only months later, on 6 December 1992, the 500-year-old Babri mosque in Ayodhya was brought down. The demolition set off communal violence across India, with the riots claiming hundreds of lives. The incident triggered a serious backlash from a section of Bombay’s Muslim community, including its Muslim-dominated underworld. In the months that followed, Bombay witnessed bloody communal riots, which claimed over 900 lives. It was against this backdrop that the city was rocked by the serial bomb blasts of 12 March 1993, in which 257 people died. The police blamed Dawood Ibrahim, along with the smuggler Tiger Memon, and they instantly became the most wanted men in the country.

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