My First Blog Post With MTV Iggy

So, the goal with MTV Iggy is for it eventually to be the opposite of MTV World's constant exporting of MTV's garbage (i.e. translations of "The Hills," "The Girls Of My Super Sweet 16 Dropped in a FARC Encampment," "Real World vs Wondershowzen Challenge")—instead importing the best from foreign cultures, starting with Asia.

I do a Asian politics and culture blogging for them.

My first post is on Mumbai.

It does not suck.

Thank You. [Via MTV Iggy]

Pradeep Sharma's Close Encounters Of The So-Corrupt-You're-Fired Kind

The Mumbai Encounter Squad has always been something of a mystery to me. Since the 1980's, it has seemingly been an entire police outfit dedicated to provoking action-packed shootouts with gangsters.

While critics have blasted Encounter Squad for Dirty Harry-style vigilantism and have accused the police of concluding that this method was more efficient than court, a substantial portion of the public and the media in India continue to portray them as heroes. At over 112 confirmed kills (they keep score like American GI's in Vietnam), Pradeep Sharma was the most famous Encounter Squad member and now he has been fired due to corruption allegations. Unlike the rest of Mumbai's 39,000-strong police force—who detained 1,290 gangsters legally and without being dramatized in Bollywood movies—Sharma (pictured) is now following fellow MES officer Daya Nayak on the infamy downslope.

Fittingly, Sharma is being fired rather than charged with these crimes because it is ultimately "more efficient" than making those accusations stick:

A senior police officer corroborated his chief’s version, saying the decision was based on a variety of factors, including Sharma’s role as a middleman between gangster Chhota Shakeel and the builder mafia. “Telephonic interceptions have revealed that Sharma used to negotiate extortion threats received by builders and businessman. He also used to negotiate land deals. We wanted to put an end to this,’’ he said. Another officer said Sharma “is worth over Rs 3,000 crore’’. Although convinced about his underhand activities, the police knew that it would be difficult to prove them in court. Therefore, the government invoked Article 311 of the Indian constitution whereby an officer can be dismissed without holding an inquiry in such situations. This is also one of the rare cases in which the deputy chief minister took an active interest in ensuring the dismissal of a police inspector.

I'm sure Sharma is going to have no trouble finding an employer for his talents in the private sector, maybe even in construction.

[Via The Times of India]

Nephew of Mumbai Underworld Don Extorts Chandelier Industry

It's sort of embarrassing hilarious that Sachin Shete, the nephew of infamous crime figure Gurunath Narhari "Guru" Satam (whose mugshot is on the right), is going after interior decoration companies:

According to the complaint filed by Joseph Alex Thomas, 41, Shete has been threatening his sister Rita to hand over her chandelier business to him.

Rita had started the business a few years ago and Shete had forced her to make him a partner. [...]

Senior inspector Ambadas Gadade said, “When Rita refused to hand over the business to him, Shete told her that he would call up his uncle Guru Satam and get her killed.”

Ignoring how totally 3rd-grade that threat is, Shete should know that gangsters with chandeliers are asking for trouble:


[Via Daily News & Analysis and the Times of India]

Mumbai Police Gun Down Anand "Tarzan" Patil In Suburban Shootout

and then they put some guns on bubble wrap for the press to photograph. Your guess is as good as mine:

Patil was a member of the Hemant Pujari gang and wanted in at least eight cases, which were registered against him.

He had given extortion threats to a businessman living in that area. Using this information only crime branch laid a trap. [...]

"We warned him and asked him to surrender but instead he started firing. We started firing in defence. He was injured during the firing. We rushed him to the nearby hospital but he was declared dead on arrival," said DR Sankhe, Sub Inspector, Oshiwara Police Station.

In other words, it looks like the late 80's and early 90's are also back in Mumbia's criminal underbelly!

[Via NDTV]

Mumbai Don Divas

Bangalore-based journalist and international studies Ph.D., Sudha Ramachandran has filed an amazing story with the Asia Times on the return of gangland style violence to Mumbai's underworld, which is said to be "younger, deadlier, and more ambitious and tech savvy." They're also evidently more progressive on gender roles:

The new dons' molls seem to share little with "Mona darling", the quintessential vamp in Hindu movies of the 1970s and '80s, who did little beyond dance for the don and pour his whiskey. Now they are the dons' partners in crime, actively involved in the business of extortion and trafficking. A new generation of gangsters is making its mark in the underworld.

Intelligence officials say the new dons are keen to make their presence felt and want to carve a name for themselves. They are seeking to wrest control over turf from their older associates. This will mean an increase in intra-gang warfare and bloodletting in the coming years.