Mumbai:
Browse this list of names. Haji Mastan, Dawood Ibrahim, Yusuf Handsome, Sadru, Rafiq, Battiwala, Munna Maldar, Murugan, Santosh, Jalal, Salim Bori, Sadiq.
Other than the fact these have all been diesel smugglers operating out of the city at one point or another, they have something else in common: they are all men. Right from the 60s, the diesel smuggling business has been a male-dominated domain.
The last 48 hours, however, have changed this 40-odd-year-old demographic.
After recovering Rs 3.5 crore worth of smuggled diesel in two separate raids over the last two days, the Special Branch sleuths were grappling with the question of who will the next Paani ka King, which is gangland slang for the kingpin of diesel smuggling those who steal consignments from vessels when they are in the high seas.
And this time, their answers have thrown up the names of two women contenders.
Senior Inspector Rakesh Sharma of Special Branch II told MiD DAY that a manhunt has been launched for a 50-year-old woman named Akka. Her second-in-command Adish Majid, arrested from one of the two raids, has confessed that Akka is heading an oil syndicate for the past few months.
The SB II officials impounded 10 diesel tankers valued around Rs 3.3 crore from members of the Akka syndicate operating from the Antop Hill area.
The second raid revealed another syndicate, also run by a woman. Senior Inspector Rajan Bhogle of Sewri police station said a 70-year-old woman, called Malanbai, was heading another diesel smuggling consortium.
Two of her suspected henchmen, V Londe and Saroj alias Mama, nabbed with 22 drums laden with stolen diesel worth Rs 20 lakh in Sewri, gave the name of their boss away.
Akka and Malanbai, running separate bootlegging syndicates, have been handling more than 100 men involved in stealing consignments of diesel from the sea and oil depots along the coastal suburbs, a fact confirmed by Bhogle.
One of them may be the next diesel kingpin, after the murder of oil mafioso Chand Sayed Madar in September last year, cops said.
It is advantageous being a woman in this business, cops revealed. Everytime they are being investigated, the women make counter-accusations against officials enquiring into their illegal business.
"The women kingpins have made more than 150 allegations (of harassment or something similar) against officers who initiate any action against them. They want to take advantage of their gender," said Bhogle.
An official added on condition of anonymity that they influence seniors in the force with bribes and contacts to get investigating officers transferred.
Officials revealed that paani ka kaam is seen as the gateway to the underworld, a qualifier to prove that one has the necessary muscle and moolah to be intimidating in the crime world. As such it has many takers.
Currently, the two lady-led gangs, along with the sundry others, not only want to control the Rs 1,000 crore diesel business, but want to take over the smuggling of contraband to grey market hubs at Manish Market and Musafirkhana.
Given the uninhibited activity in this arena of the underworld, it comes as little surprise that former additional commissioner of police R K Padmanabhan had transferred several tainted officers before launching operations against the oil mafia entrenched in the docks.
Paani ka kaam or smuggling in the high seas is a very lucrative business, and consequently, one of the most dangerous ones in the underworld.
One of the pioneers of the business was Haji Mastan in the late 60s and early 70s. He was soon ousted when Dawood Ibrahim made an entry the smuggling business and peopled it with his pawns, nudging out other players.
The reason being the Rs 1,000 crore annual gains that can be skimmed off the illegal business.
Another glaring case in point is Yusuf Kasargod alias Yusuf Handsome, who was forced to leave Mumbai and head for his village in Kerala, after Dawood's entry.
Diesel smuggling has changed the fortune of many. While some smugglers were members of the underworld, others operated from the fringes without getting dragged into the sinister crime world outright. People who started as apprentice killers have ended up owning around 200 tankers.