The fading dark legacy of elusive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is up for grabs in the home city of Mumbai where Punjab-Haryana-NCR origin gangsters are trying to wrest control to become the crime lords of today.
Punjab police officials who have interrogated incarcerated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi—lodged in a Gujarat jail facing charges of murder, drug trafficking and extortion—recall how Lawrence bragged about his clout across the North Indian belt of Delhi, NCR, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan and confessed his hidden ambition of ruling the Mumbai underworld.
The bastion of D gang, the Mumbai underworld, has triggered the imagination of Bollywood for long. Even though Punjab gangsters rule the roost back home with rap and rage of gangster music, the lure of the well-oiled organised crime syndicates and dread of D gang has been the benchmark in the gang world.
“I want to become the biggest don,” said a cop quoting Lawrence who rose to notoriety for his alleged criminal actions after the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Walla in 2022 for which the Bishnoi gang and its key members like Goldy Brar claimed responsibility.
"It’s not only Punjab. They are basically North India-based gangsters in terms of their operations and linkages," said a top security official. Sources said Lawrence’s base is in Haryana and Delhi. In Punjab, it is primarily through Goldy Brar. In Rajasthan, it is through fugitive gangster Rohit Godara (allegedly hiding in Canada), and in Haryana-NCR through his association with Kala Jatheri gang, said the official.
In February, it came as no surprise to the Punjab police when these gangsters plotted the firing at actor Salman Khan’s residence in Mumbai’s Bandra area. When the state police forces, especially in Punjab and Mumbai, investigated their suspects closely, the latter closed in on shooters belonging to the Bishnoi gang.
However, at the same time another pair of eyes were watching the new kids on the block closely and this was the D company that may have lost its clout but not its hold entirely in the gang world. Sources claimed D gang remnants, who run the show for the elusive don who is ageing and ailing in a safe house in Pakistan, are not yet ready to give up control of the mafia world to the gangsters from the North.
The cops suspect that gang wars erupting between these gangsters and the D company may not be a far cry as stepping into the latter’s territory may invite a backlash.
The intrigue has been rising after one of the accused in the Salman Khan firing case was found dead in the lock-up on May 1. The Mumbai police stated that the accused attempted suicide in custody. Meanwhile, a fifth accused was arrested from Rajasthan on May 7. Police sources said some of the accused in the firing case are learnt to have links in the US and Canada where gang wars have already spilled onto streets.
There is considerable cause for worry, as associates of these gangsters like Anmol Bishnoi, brother of Lawrence, are hiding in the US and Canada where they are not only having a free run but also taking the risk of triggering gang wars on foreign soil that can have repercussions back home, too.
Lawrence's ability to control his gang activities and issue threats sitting in jail is another cause of concern for multiple state police forces. Police officials said the fake passport rackets continue in these states where many foot soldiers are able to travel to foreign shores giving a slip to immigration authorities. Amid the diverse security concerns are the new gangsters in the race, led by the Haryana-Punjab gangs, to edge out the D gang to become the most dreaded gangsters in the underworld.