Don’s end came when he sought an image makeover

Pradeep Kavishwar became a don in real life after 1985 riots. Before the riots, he had a reputation of being an expert of welding machines and electrical work. His active participation in the riots put him firmly on the crime path and soon he had two murder cases registered against his name. For next over two decades, he was active in underworld and made a lot of money. However, for last 6-8 months, he had dissociated himself from the illegal activities and started helping people of the area and earning a good name for himself.

Pradeep Don had bought old houses in the pols in Khadia, Raipur and Panchkuwa areas at cheap rates and sold them at higher prices after converting them into commercial complexes. He also used to bully the traders in the area and collect extortion money from them whenever shops or godowns were sold in the area. Apart from that, he solved several cases in which traders of the area had money due with others. He did not like to come into picture directly, and had a group of youngsters who used to work on behalf of him.

Don's lifestyle was rather simple. "He used to dress very simple, mostly T-shirts, jeans and slippers. We had never seen him in fancy cloths or costly shoes," said a resident of Gandhi Road. He never made any fuss in public about his muscle power or harassed small shopkeepers in the area. On the contrary, he used to thrash eve-teasers in the area, said a shopkeeper of Kalupur area.

An old friend of Kavishwar recalled, "He was intelligent and had great convincing power. Unfortunately, he used his abilities in helping fellow criminals." Though he was not directly linked to any political party, it was believed he was backed by one of the powerful politicians of the area.