Top police informer stabbed to death

The police informers’ community, the backbone when it comes to Mumbai police operations, received a major jolt, perhaps the biggest in recent times, with the murder of Irfan Khan alias Irfan Chindi in Nagpada in the wee hours of Friday.

Chindi, 62, a resident of Surti Mohalla in Nagpada, south Mumbai, was stabbed to death by three unknown persons. The police, led by assistant sub-inspector Jayant Shirke and havaldar Rafiq Mujawar, have arrested three persons – Yusuf Khan, Irfan Sheikh, and Suleiman Moinuddin – who are believed to be involved in the murder.

Chindi was regarded as a top-level and one of the most trusted informers to the police, including to the late Vijay Salaskar, and responsible for providing information that led to the killings or arrests of several persons associated with the gangs of Dawood, Chhota Rajan, and Ashwin Naik.

While the informer community is shocked, a few sources from the community said they had seen it coming, saying Chindi had become arrogant of late and made many enemies.
Chindi began his career as an errand boy and a petty informer in 1991 (which is how he acquired his sobriquet), but through his hard work and shrewdness, he soon built up a network across the length and breadth of the city and in areas such as Bhiwandi.

The sources said Chindi had at least 600 informers working for him, many of whom were unemployed youths. By passing on their information to Chindi rather than directly to the police, these small-time informers were promised a return from Chindi. As and when Chindi passed on the same information to the police, he did so at a higher price, thus earning a neat profit.

According to sources, Chindi’s downfall began a year ago when he was “employed” by a gambling giant   in the Nagpada-Dongri-Agripada belt for Rs2 lakh per month (see box bleow). The game is called ‘Dana’ or ‘Janna Manna’ is similar to a board of Ludo.
The employer’s instruction was simple and clear: ensure profits, and Chindi did just that. But the sources said his success began to go to his head, making him arrogant and rude towards others.

“He thought he could get away despite rubbing a lot of people the other way. But fate had other plans,” said a resident of Nagpada, who had witnessed Chindi’s climb up the ladder.

The sources said it is possible that a colleague from the gambling den is behind the murder. “Chindi had tried to frame one of his colleague’s sons in a theft case. He also had been harassing him for sometime,” said an informer from Nagpada, “This might have been the final nail in the coffin.”