The ingredients remain the same: to avenge a betrayal, followed by a battle for supremacy to control the Mumbai underworld.
The ingredients remain the same: to avenge a betrayal, followed by a battle for supremacy to control the Mumbai underworld. The latest card in the underworld pack is Bharat Nepali, who announced his entry with the sensational killing of criminal lawyer Shahid Azmi in February. He followed that by gunning down Farid Tanasha, a former Chhota Rajan gang member.
Both murders were scripted alike — armed men barging in, spraying bullets and slipping away into the darkness. In a telephonic conversation with DNA from an undisclosed location, Nepali claimed responsibility for both the murders — Azmi’s, to announce himself as a “patriotic” don and Tanasha’s, to prove a point to his ex-boss — Rajan. “Rajan had started spreading rumours that I had joined the Dawood gang; I got Tanasha killed to prove him wrong and prove a point,” Nepali said. Tanasha had recently joined the Dawood Ibrahim gang and by killing the criminal, who had danced with the police during a Christmas party, Nepali sent a clear message to Rajan.
The gangster believes in the underworld’s sacred vow — never forgive a betrayal. And Nepali feels a sense of betrayal from Rajan. He said he rescued a seriously-wounded Rajan when he suffered a near-fatal attack in Bangkok in 2000, protected him from the Malaysian police and the preying eyes of rival don Dawood. “I put my neck on the line to save Rajan, made special arrangements and ensured he escaped from the Malaysian authorities right under their nose,” Nepali said.
He said he left the gang because despite being loyal to Rajan and his men, other small-time members began interfering with the team work. “A driver was issuing orders and a relative was settling gang-related matters. A gang does not function like this,” thundered Nepali. “The Rajan gang is too small for me; my work is well beyond the gang.”
He said he wanted Azmi killed because the lawyer was involved in “anti-national activities”. Azmi was defending Fahim Ansari, an accused in the 26/11 terror attack case. “How can you defend terrorists and those involved in killing innocent countrymen?” Nepali asked. Ironically, his mentor Rajan had mouthed similar lines when he went about killing Dawood’s men after the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai, which were masterminded by India’s most-wanted gangster.
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