Gangs of Pune: The New Underworld Hotspot

Did you know that Pune is surrounded by as many as 9 gangs from all sides?

Members of various gangs active in Pune. Some of these have been shot dead by rival gangs. (Photo: Ashish Dikshit/The Quint)

If you think Pune is a nice, quiet and peaceful place, where people attack each other only verbally, you’re wrong. Those days are long gone. Last week, Datta Phuge aka ‘gold man’ was stoned to death in front of his son. Although his gruesome murder is related to a financial deal, it brings the focus back on the rising organised crime in the city. Pune, the cultural capital of Maharashtra, is now known for its gang wars!

At present, there are more than nine gangs active in Pune! Reason? Land, labour and money!

NCP activist Datta Phuge, famous for wearing a shirt made of gold weighing 3.5 kg, was beaten to death on 15 July 2016. (Photo: PTI)

Fertile Land for Goons

In the last three decades, Pune has emerged as one of the top manufacturing and software cities in India. It has always been an educational hub with hundreds of colleges in the vicinity; more than 40 percent of the total foreign students in the country study in this city alone. Pune also attracts migrants from across Maharashtra as well as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. With hundreds of international companies, thousands of well-paid engineers and lakhs of migrants, there are no prizes for guessing that real estate is a booming industry here.

Mercedes-Benz is one of the many international companies in Chakan industrial area near Pune. (Photo: Reuters)

When Pune started growing rapidly in the last two decades, land prices in the city skyrocketed. Farmers started getting unheard-of rates in return for their fertile land. Like Gurgaon and Navi Mumbai, Mercedes cars and thick golden chains were visible in villages around Pune.

The fight for costly land resulted in violence. Slowly, the goons formed gangs and recruited local villagers to bulk up their muscle power. Most of these youngsters are from Mawal, Mulshi and Bhor talukas.

Nine Gangs Active in Pune Now

The land wars in the periphery soon spilled into the heart of Pune. Daylight murders started making news. The most shocking was the war between the gangs of sworn enemies Gajya Marne and Nilesh Ghaywal, who would go to any lengths to kill members of their rival gang. On 29 November 2014, residents of Navi Peth area in old Pune were horrified to witness a gunfight between the two gangs. Part of the fight that killed one member of the Ghaywal gang was caught on a CCTV camera:

There are more than nine gangs active in and around Pune today:

• 1. Gajya Marne gang (Mulshi)
  
• 2. Baba Bodke gang (Bhor, Shanivar Peth)
  
• 3. Sharad Mohol gang (Mutha village)
  
• 4. Nilesh Ghaywal gang (Kothrud)
  
• 5. Rakesh Bharne gang (Thergaon)
  
• 6. Balya Waghire gang (Pimpri)
  
• 7. Pappu Nair gang (Bibewadi)
  
• 8. Pintya Dhawde gang (Upper Indira Nagar)
  
• 9. Bantya Pawar gang (Sinhagad Road)
  

There are dozens or more gangs that function inconspicuously, but are under the police radar. With so many gangs around, headlines regularly announce a gangster being murdered, gang war erupting in Dhankawadi or at a crowded place like Swargate or how gangs are back in Pune’s streets with a fresh batch of youngsters.

Most of these gangs originate in the villages around Pune and are active mostly in the newly developed areas, which fall under Pune rural police. They claim that the crime rate is falling after they started applying stringent MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) to these gangsters.

All dreaded goons are in jail now. We applied MCOCA to 4 gangs in 2016 and to 14 gangs in 2015. So, all gangsters are either in jail or are frightened to do anything now.

Jay Jadhav, SP, Pune Rural Police

White-Collar Gangs

The issue is not limited to land. These gangs branched out and started threatening industries for labour contracts. The gangs fight with each other to get contracts for scrap, transport, security or canteen at booming industries and malls. Several industrialists had met Sharad Pawar, the then union minister in 2013, but not much has changed. Some industries are contemplating moving out of Pune as the government has not been able to help them, report local newspapers.

Companies get threats for labour contracts and they can’t do much about it due to the situation here. These gangs are different from the land gangs. These mostly operate in Chakan and Ranjangaon MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation) areas.

Vaibhav Sonawane, Local Crime Reporter with IBN Lokmat

Organised crime has entered into labour contracts as new industries and malls are rapidly coming up around Pune city. (Photo: Reuters)

The Quint tried to contact industrialists, but as the gangs are allegedly hand in glove with some local politicians, no one was willing to talk on record.

Sand Mafia Gangs

The booming real estate industry has resulted in a massive demand for sand. It has given birth to several sand mafia gangs. Pune is surrounded by rivers that are rich in sand. Recently, Appa Londhe, who ran a gang of 50 goons, was shot dead by his rival gang near Pune city.

Skyscrapers in farmlands is not an unusual picture anymore. (Photo: Reuters)

Gangs, Terror and Extremism

Pune, which was once a pensioners’ paradise, is suddenly surrounded by criminals of all kinds from all sides. While land, labour and sand gangs are trying to expand, Pune is already on the terror radar with two attacks so far, German Bakery blast being the more prominent one. Religious extremism is also on the rise, which resulted in the daylight murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in 2013, and the killing of a Muslim youth in 2014 that sparked communal tensions across the city.

(Sources: The Hindu, The Indian Express)