- Mumbai Encounter Squad
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The Mumbai Encounter Squad was an unofficial group within the police force of Mumbai, which killed criminals in "encounters".
It consisted of several high-profile officers from the Detection Unit. The squad primarily dealt with members of the Mumbai underworld and other criminal gangs and carried out the elimination of criminals. At one point it was headed by Pradeep Sawant.[1]
Contents
Gang Wars in Mumbai
The Encounter Squad came into prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, when they started dealing with Dawood Ibrahim's D-Company gang.
The 'encounter’, was a euphemism for a situation in which a gangster was cornered, asked to surrender, ostensibly attacked the police or tried to escape, and was shot dead in retaliatory action. As the encounters increased, so did the popularity of the ‘encounter specialist’. Daya Nayak, Pradeep Sharma, Ravindra Angre, Praful Bhosale, Raju Pillai, Vijay Salaskar, Shivaji Kolekar, Sachin Waze and Sanjay Kadam became cult figures, mythologised by the media.[2]
The first encounter occurred on January 11, 1982 when gangster Manya Surve was shot dead by police officers Raja Tambat and Isaque Bagwan at the Wadala area.[3] The famous killing of Maya Dolas in the Shootout at Lokhandwala bought focus on this unit for first time. More than 400 [4] criminals from different gangs were killed by this squad.
Since the cracking of the 1993 Mumbai Bomb blasts case, the squad played an instrumental role in controlling the Dawood Ibrahim, Chota Rajan, Ashwin Naik, Ravi Pujari, Ejaz Lakdawala, Ali Budesh, and Arun Gawli gangs in Mumbai.[5][6][7]
The squad was dissolved after rival dons Dawood and Chota Rajan fled India, but revived after the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings.[8]
The end of the squad came with the departure of Waze and Nayak from service, and death of Vijay Salaskar,[9] killed in a gun battle with the Taj Hotel terrorists.[10][11]
Portrayals in popular culture
- Abtak Chappan — Nana Patekar playing role of Sadhu Agashe based on Pradeep Sharma
- Company — Vivek Oberoi playing Chota Rajan, Mohanlal playing Encounter Squad Chief
- Shootout at Lokhandwala — Vivek Oberoi playing Maya Dolas, movie on Maya's Encounter,
- Aaan-Encounter Squad — Character based on real-life inspectors
- Sarfarosh — Fictional story based upon the Indian underworld.
- Garv — Brothers Salman and Arbaaz Khan play roles of inspectors of Encounter squad
At least one further film is planned.[12]
References
- ^ "Mumbai commissioner questioned in Telgi case". The Times Of India. 6 August 2004. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/805075.cms.
- ^ Final Encounter
- ^ City’s first encounter ended two years of urban dacoity - June 22, 2002, Express India
- ^ "India can't keep a good don under". Asian times. 23 June 2007. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IF23Df01.html. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
- ^ ALEX PERRY (January 06,2003). "Urban Cowboys". TIME CNN. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,404315,00.html. Retrieved on June 09, 2007
- ^ Zubair Ahmed (June 9, 2004). "Bombay's crack Encounter Police". BBC NEWS. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3786645.stm. Retrieved on June 09, 2007
- ^ Indian Express (11 December 2001). "Where Gangsters blinked first". in.news.yahoo. http://in.news.yahoo.com/061209/48/6a5zh.html. Retrieved on June 09, 2007
- ^ "Mumbai’s ‘Dirty Harrys’ are back in action"
- ^ "Rajan Gangster dead". times of India. 31 Oct 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Rajan_gangster_shot_dead/articleshow/2503867.cms. Retrieved on Oct 31, 2007
- ^ "Encounters on at Taj, Trident". NDTV.com. 27 November 2008. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080074206. Retrieved November 27, 2008.
- ^ A rare breed ...
- ^ "BIG B TO STAR IN RGV'S COP FILM - HINDUSTAN TIMES"
External links
- Urban Cowboys - TIME
- Bombay's crack 'encounter' police - BBC News
- India can't keep a good don down - Asia Times
- Encounter man Pradip Sharma completes 'century'
- India - Mumbai Mean Streets - ABC news
- Encounter specialists are back in action - Deccan Herald
- Rajan gangster shot dead - The Times of India
Categories:- Mumbai Police
- Government of Mumbai
- Organized crime in India
- 1997 establishments in India
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