Jitendra Dabholkar, the head of the Kamgar Sena, went to met Arun Gawli in jail and convinced him to float a political party. And so Gawli went ahead and formed the Akhil Bharatiya Sena, which had its office inside the fortress-like walls of Dagdi Chawl. It challenged the original sons of the soil, Shiv Sena, on their home ground. Soon, he began to attract all the disgruntled workers from the Shiv Sena. When Gawli got back from jail, he became the president of ABS and Dabholkar became its secretary. The ABS not only stole into the Shiv Sena’s votebank but also took over the Oberoi Hotels and Tata Memorial Hospital unions earlier affiliated with that party.

  Within a year of its existence, the ABS had registered nearly 350,000 members in Maharashtra, with another 50,000 in the union. Gawli suddenly appeared as a messiah to the people. Increasingly, hordes of people made a beeline to his chawl to complain about their problems.

  The growing political power of Gawli was unsettling for a lot of people. Particularly the D-Company. Gawli seemed to be getting stronger and stronger with both political and public support. Shakeel knew the man behind Gawli’s strength was none other than Dabholkar. He was the backbone of ABS and eliminating him would leave Gawli handicapped. The only way to destroy Gawli’s political clout was to undermine the growth of ABS. Shakeel picked up his phone and called for his finest shooters. Dabholkar had to be killed, he told them.

  Shakeel pressed into service his sharpshooter army including Kalia, Munna Jhingada and Chikna. The trio received the orders and set to work. Munna followed Dabholkar for a few days and figured out his schedule. Then, the three killers fixed a date to shoot Dabholkar dead. On the day, an unsuspecting Dabholkar left Dagdi Chawl as usual in his Armada car. He was aware he was under the scrutiny of the underworld, but never in his wildest dreams had he anticipated the fate that awaited him.

  On the day, Chikna wasn’t able to accompany Kalia. Munna asked Kalia to drop the plan—they needed a rider and it would be impossible to carry the killing without Chikna. But Kalia was determined to finish Dabholkar on the same day.

  Kalia got on to his bike and started following the Armada car. He got close to Dabholkar on the Milan subway. With a stretch of slums on either side, and with new buildings towering over the road, the Milan subway is one of the busiest turns in the city. Swarming with people at all times, vehicles struggle to make their way through it. It was unimaginable for any shooter to carry out a killing in this complex mess. But Kalia was not just any shooter. He was determined to finish Dabholkar at all costs. He followed Dabholkar’s car at a close distance. After crossing the subway, the Armada car took a turn towards Santacruz. At that point, Dabholkar asked his driver to stop the car because he had to meet somebody. Dabholkar then stepped out of his car, closely shadowed by his bodyguard.

  From a distance of a few metres, Kalia spotted Dabholkar getting out of his car. He was standing with his bodyguard on the sidewalk, looking around for someone. Kalia rode up. This was his chance to shoot Dabholkar down and finish what he had come for. Kalia parked his bike and headed towards Dabholkar with his gun in hand. He approached a puzzled Dabholkar, who quickly turned pale at the sight of the gun. In a split second, Kalia opened fire and shot Dabholkar and his bodyguard dead. Kalia then rushed back to his bike, and sped off into the crowd.

  Kalia thus managed to not only shoot down one of the city’s most promising politicians in broad daylight, but also executed the killing in one of the busiest streets in Mumbai. This was perhaps the most sensational killing done by any shooter at that time. After Dabholkar’s murder, Sadiq Kalia was the most-wanted criminal in the city and the Mumbai police started a hunt for him.

  Dabholkar’s killing finished the budding political career and ambitions of Arun Gawli. He was devastated. Whe he learnt that the killing was the handiwork of a young man who started off from his own team, he cursed his lack of strategic foresight.

  Kalia’s Gangland Training

  Born in Agripada, Sadiq spent most of his childhood with his friends in Dagdi Chawl playing football. He had seen the famed gangster around from when he was a child, and would always imitate him. He loved how Gawli controlled his men and idolized the gangster’s ways. In the coming years, Sadiq expressed his desire to join the Gawli gang. Through friends he got a meeting arranged with ‘Daddy’, who promised him some work. Sadiq was made to join a group that collected extortion money for Gawli. He also sold cinema tickets in black at Palace Cinema in Byculla. Sadiq did not like his initial work but presumed that was how one graduated from being a low-level to top-level gangster. Sadiq hung on to the work despite his reservations.

  Around the same time, Gawli had recruited other unemployed young boys to carry out his hafta operations. They were all put in groups to visit hotels, shops and offices around Byculla to gather intelligence and shortlist prospective extortion victims. Owners who refused to pay were beaten up. This caused fear in the area and others started paying up without protest. Sadiq found this petty job demeaning to his ambitions. He did not like his status as a hafta wasuli person or a black-ticket seller. He believed in his potential and wanted to be part of Gawli’s core teamof. He craved the power and status that came with being a prominent member of the gang. Sadiq was not only ambitious but also knew the art of perseverance; however, after a period of unsuccessfully trying to get the attention of Arun Gawli, Sadiq finally quit the gang. Little did he know that better doors would soon open for him—a few months later, Sadiq joined the D-Company.

  Shakeel believed in the young lanky man and entrusted him with some of the most important assignments of the D-Company. He was no longer the ‘bachcha’ that Shakeel once thought him to be. Sadiq was now one of the most feared men in the underworld mafia. In police circles he was nicknamed ‘Bhoot’ because he was as stealthy as a ghost on the move. He would appear on a scene, finish his business, and leave without a trace. Moreover, his extremely dark skin helped him camouflage himself in the dark.

  He was also nicknamed ‘Narsimha’, after the half-lion avatar of Lord Vishnu. He was strong and fearless like the avatar, and ruthless with his weapons. In the underworld, a shooter or an operative is usually given only one sobriquet. Sadiq became one of the only hitmen to have several, including Kalia, Bhoot and Narsimha.

  Sadiq, Salim Chikna and Munna Jhingada operated like a mini-army. They divided up the tasks: Munna would do the groundwork and follow the trails of the targets. Based on this information, Chikna and Kalia would carry out the murders. They successfully gunned down many men from rival gangs.

  However, there was one assignment in particular that Kalia could never complete. It was killing none other than his own former boss, Arun Gawli.

  When he was given the assignment to murder Gawli, Kalia couldn’t contain his excitement. He made elaborate plans to finally avenge the humiliating treatment that Gawli had meted out to him during his early mafia days. Sadiq had information that Gawli, who then resided in Pune, would be travelling to Mumbai to address a gathering. Kalia planned to attend the gathering and shoot Gawli dead in front of all his supporters. He made a detailed plan with his partner Chikna for this, but as fate would have it, Gawli was tipped off about Shakeel’s plan and he cancelled the meeting. Kalia’s dream of killing Gawli himself never materialized. Kalia waited for hours, but Gawli never showed up.

  The Khaki versus Kalia

  Sadiq Kalia had induced fear in the city with his macabre and daring killings and the police had been after him for some time. One particular murder turned the police heat on him.

  Kushal Jain was a moneylender who operated from Mahim. Kushal and Kalia had been good friends in the past, but Kushal did not approve of his friend’s links with the underworld. Kushal shared a deep personal rapport with Inspector Pradeep Sharma and went on to join hands with the police as an informant. He would also pass on crucial information about Kalia to the police. Kalia felt betrayed by his friend and decided to avenge his disloyalty.

  It was the last day of the Ganapati visarjan. The entire city was high on festive spirits after the ten-day long celebrations. Kushal Jain was in his office at Mahim. He had decided to leave for home early, before the city roads were packed with visarjan traffic. Around mid-afternoon Kushal got up, ready to leave. It was then that Sadiq swiftly walked into his office. Kushal trembled at the sight. He knew Kalia had not come bearing good news and that his life was in danger. Kalia calmly sat down on a chair opposite Kushal. A shaking Kushal begged Kalia to spare his life and let him go. Kalia let Kushal whimper and beg for his life. Suddenly, in a swift, coldblooded move, Kalia sprayed an array of bullets right into his former friend’s body. The lifeless body of Kushal slumped back into the chair. Kalia got up, took one last look at the bloodied body of his friend, and walked away.

  Kushal Jain’s killing was a challenge to the Mumbai police and especially to Kushal’s friend Pradeep Sharma. He decided to take revenge for his friend’s murder at any cost. Sharma sent his entire team in search of Sadiq Kalia. They couldn’t find his whereabouts but successfully got hold of his pager number. The Crime Branch kept the pager under surveillance. However, one day, the pager number went dead. An insider from the Crime Branch had switched sides and passed information to Shakeel about Kalia’s pager being tracked. Kalia had then disconnected his pager.

  But the Mumbai police were not about to give up so easily. They got the telecom company to activate the pager again. Subsequently, the subscriber received a message saying the pager company was offering a free trial for fifteen days. Kalia walked right into the trap set for him by the police. Kalia handed over the pager to his friend and accomplice, Chikna. They communicated over the pager, whereby Kalia would leave messages for Chikna from PCOs all over the city. But Kalia never waited at any of these spots for more than five minutes, making it impossible for the cops to track him down.

  One day, Chikna received a message from Kalia, asking that he meet him at a cinema hall near Mumbai Central. Chikna was surprised by the message, because Kalia had never asked to meet him in a crowded place before. The message had another recipient too—Sub-Inspector Daya Nayak who had kept the pager under surveillance. Nayak decided to take a chance and reached the cinema hall an hour earlier than the time decided between Chikna and Kalia. Daya parked his Maruti Zen at a distance from the theatre and waited.

  After about ten minutes, a Yamaha motorcycle approached the cinema hall. The rider parked by the side and stood waiting. Daya got out of his car and started walking towards the bike. He quietly approached Chikna and jumped on the pillion seat in a quick movement. Daya pointed his gun at Chikna’s back and asked him to get down immediately. A startled Chikna was horror-struck to see the inspector instead of his friend Kalia.

  Other cops who were stationed nearby held Chikna down and took him away in a van. Kalia’s most trusted accomplice was taken straight to the Crime Intelligence Unit. Next on the list was Kalia himself.

  The Countdown Begins

  The curled-up figure of a man sat in the corner of the special squad office. ‘Saab jaane do na muje, Mai samjhaata na usko. Saab chod do na,’ Chikna pleaded with the cops. Instead, Daya slapped Chikna hard, right across his face. He caught Chikna by his collar and shook him with another loud slap on his head. ‘Chal bol, Kalia kidhar milege? Kisko thokne ka plan tha?’ Daya growled.

  Suddenly Chikna’s pager beeped out loud. He had received a message which said, ‘Dadar phool market at 4 p.m.’ Daya smiled. He was now one step ahead of Sadiq Kalia. Daya got up and informed his senior about the turn of events. Inspector Pradeep Sharma jumped to his feet and in less than ten minutes he left his office with his team. Ten officers, including Daya, Arun Borude and a lady police officer, Sangeeta Patil, got into a car. Daya grabbed Chikna by his collar and shoved him in one of the cars. Chikna knew he was double-crossing his friend, but his own life was at stake and he had no option but to do as he was told. The cars then set out to finally take down the deadly killing machine, Sadiq Kalia.

  December 12, 1997. It was a regular busy afternoon at the Dadar flower market. The place crackled with the chaos that was routine there. The grimy walls of the flyover housed an overflowing market right outside Dadar railway station. The narrow roads, parallel to the railway station, were filled with a crowd of vegetable vendors. The flower vendors were under the flyover, their baskets of flowers set out, ready for business. It was around 4 o’clock. The peak time for business for all. Commuters would swarm the markets at regular intervals, making their way through to the other side. Customers and sellers were busy bargaining over flowers, vegetables and fruits. Dadar phool market was the usual constant and unending pandemonium.

  Amidst the bedlam of noise and hustle-bustle, a man stood stationary in a corner of the market, a cap hung low on his head. He watched people walking to and fro. Suddenly, he showed signs of impatience. It seemed as though he was waiting for a friend who hadn’t shown up. A man walked past him, throwing a dirty glance his way. The man, like everyone else at the market, was oblivious to the identity of the person in the cap—Sadiq Kalia.

  The Bhoot was on a special mission this time. And without Chikna, the mission wouldn’t be carried out. His next target was none other than Shiv Sena MP Mohan Rawle. The execution had been masterminded by Chhota Shakeel. He wanted Rawle dead to teach Arun Gawli a lesson. Despite his political background, Rawle’s proximity to the Maharashtrian gangs was very evident. He had shown his solidarity with the Gawli gang and as well as his loyalty to the Naik gang. He had attended the funeral of gangster Amar Naik after he was killed in an encounter on 10 August 1996 and, in 1997, when Arun Gawli was booked under the National Security Act, Rawle had gone on a hungerstrike in protest for eight days outside the Agripada police station. He ended his fast only after Gawli’s mother offered him a glass of juice. At his annual Dussehra speech at Shivaji Park, Bal Thackeray would routinely call the Maharashtrians among these mobsters ‘amchi muley’—‘our boys’. And Rawle took pride in being associated with these sons of the soil.

  Rawle was also a people-pleaser and wanted to be in everyone’s good books. He took special care to not upset the sentiments of any particular gang, apart from Dawood’s company, which he freely bad-mouthed. His political power was on the rise and his growing closeness to Arun Gawli was beginning to be a big threat to the D-Company. Arun Gawli’s party, along with Rawle’s support, were collectively becoming very powerful. Rawle’s killing was supposed to serve as a warning to Gawli, and Sadiq Kalia had been chosen to execute the murder.

  Sweat dropped from Kalia’s forehead down onto his shirt. Time was running out and his partner and rider Chikna was nowhere to be seen. Kalia checked his pager again to see if he had missed a message from Chikna. There was nothing. Kalia let out a heavy sigh and looked around. He decided to wait for some more time.

  ‘Bhago, Bhoot Aaya’

  The two police teams reached the flower market around late afternoon. The huge crowds posed a problem to the police. Not only did they have to look for Kalia in the surge of people, but they also had to catch and arrest him. None of the officers had seen Kalia before and did not know what he looked like. But Sharma was determined to put an end to the gangster.

  He decided not to stop his vehicle at the flower market, but instead asked his men to go ahead, take a U-turn and return. Daya went ahead in his car. He had Chikna captive with him, as he was the only person who could identify Kalia for them.

  Chikna secretly hoped that Kalia would not be found at all. However at the same time his eyes kept scanning the crowd for his friend. Suddenly, Chikna spotted a man sporting a cap and staring into the distance. Chikna’s eyes popped out in fear and he felt his stomach churn. It was Kalia, waiting impatiently for him. Daya saw Chikna’s face change and guessed that he had seen what they had come looking for.

  He followed Chikna’s gaze and asked him, ‘Kidhar hai vo? Where is he?’ Chikna remained silent.

  Daya pulled out a revolver, calmly placed it at Chikna’s forehead and said, ‘Bol, nai toh idhar hi khol dunga. Tell me, otherwise I will shoot you here itself.’

  Chikna pointed a trembling hand towards Kalia. ‘Saab vo laal topi wala. Vahi hai Kalia. Sir, the man wearing a red hat. That is Kalia.’ His voice quaked in fear.

  Daya asked Chikna to identify him again. He did not want to take any chances. But Chikna was sure—it was Kalia. Daya alerted Sharma and the others who were in the other car. Sharma asked Daya to follow his vehicle. They reached the main road away from the market and took a U-turn. They then parked their cars near the station. One constable stayed back in one of the cars to watch Chikna. The other officers set out on foot towards Kalia.

  Kalia could sense that something was wrong. His friend was late and his sharp eyes had noticed a certain white police cruiser circling the area twice. Then, he saw something that made his heart skip a beat. Sharma and his men were in clear sight and were headed his way. In the flash of a second, Kalia drew out two revolvers and opened fire at the police party. Kalia always had the habit of keeping two revolvers tucked into either side of his trousers. This was something he always pulled on everyone—shooting at a target with two guns.

  The police had no way to save innocent civilians and yet not let Kalia get away. Suddenly, one of the constables came up with a juvenile but workable idea. He stood on the bonnet of a jeep and screamed, ‘Bhago, bhoooooot aaya! Run, a ghost has come!’ This was the game-changer because people started running away, clearing the area for the police. Kalia felt cornered. The cops felt rejuvenated and it was time for them to show their heroics.

  Kalia pelted bullets at the police who dodged them and took cover. Gunshots rang throughout the market, and people broke into a frantic stampede. Kalia knew he was surrounded by police on all sides and there was no option of escape. He lunged forward, hoping to take the police by surprise. Sharma and his team continued firing in his direction. The police had by then cleared the area of general public and Kalia couldn’t use any civilian as cover. It had come down to a one-on-one fight. A duel between Sharma against Sadiq. Cop against criminal.