Isaque Bagwan - Me Against the Mumbai Underworld

It is well established that a policemans job is thankless. He is criticized if he fails to meet expectations, and he is forgotten after he has done his duty. By Gods grace, my work was applauded by both citizens and the media throughout my career. The police department, too, acknowledged my work in the line of duty. I am overwhelmed and honoured at being awarded the prestigious police medal for gallantry thrice. I am proud to have been a part of the Mumbai Police and having served my city and nation.

I have devoted my life to protecting the innocent and curtailing crime in the ever-changing and ever-surprising city of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. Entrusted with enforcing the law, I have stood up against injustice, fought hard to bring criminals to book and moved mountains to uncover crucial evidence. My case reports and investigations have been recorded in tightly bound files that lie buried under heaps of folders at various police stations and courtrooms. The uniform that used to be my second skin is neatly tucked away in a corner of my closet. Often, past events flash before my eyes, almost as if I were living them again. I often discuss a few of my cases with family and friends as the memories demand to be recalled. I must, however, clarify that sharing my experience with you is not the primary purpose of this book.

I have come across people from different walks of life and backgrounds, including officers from various departments of the government, ministers, businessmen, civilians, informers, criminals and many others who have been accurately described as part of my investigations. Other than being part of records, the events involving these people form an important and inseparable part of the history of Mumbai. And like other records, history too must be assimilated with facts, validated with proof and preserved for generations to come.

I have been witness to the planned manipulation of this history which is integral to the city. It has been painful to see the truth being tampered with to suit personal agendas. I cannot do much about the incidents which have already been misconstrued, but I can build a bastion around the events that I have been a part of and cement them with facts. A few of the important cases that I dealt with have been compiled in this book as proof of the events that took place during my career as a police officer in Mumbai.

There is one particular incident that compelled me to write about my experience. In 2006, when I was posted at Malabar Hill police station, a well-known journalist came to me with a reference from ACP Madhukar Zende, whom he had earlier approached for information about the Mumbai underworld. He wanted more details about the gangs and case records as he was writing a book on it. ACP Zende had asked me to help the gentleman. Over the next few months, I shared with him my experience with the Mumbai underworld. I also told him about the first-ever encounter in the history of the Mumbai Police: the encounter involving Manya Surve whom I and another officer had shot dead. Time passed by and, in May 2009, I retired as ACP, Mumbai. Then, in 2011, I read in a newspaper that a movie was being made on the Manya Surve encounter. According to the article, the movie was to be based on the case. I gave my no objection to the makers without accepting any monetary benefits, but only after they assured me that they would showcase absolute facts and only exercise minor cinematic liberties for the purpose of entertainment.

A few days later, ACP Zende and I were invited to the launch of the book based on the gangs of Mumbai by the same journalist to whom I had narrated details of the underworld. ACP Zende, a voracious reader, went through the book. He found glaring factual errors in the murder case of Sabir Kaskar, Dawood Ibrahims brother. ACP Zende, who had investigated this case, pointed out that Manya Surve had played no role in Sabirs murder as per police records. However, the role of another criminal, Jaffer Jamal Siddique, who was one of the main accused in the case, had been eliminated from the book while other unknown and unrelated names had been included. Since the movie on Manya Surves encounter was adapted from this book, the characters had initially been named as per the actual identities. After I saw the trailer for the movie, I realized that the screenplay had been modified further and the facts been twisted and fictionalized to grab eyeballs. I was very upset with the contorted depiction. After consulting the then Commissioner of Police (Mumbai) Satyapal Singh, and as advised by him, I informed the print media about the false portrayal in the movie. I asked for my name, along with my family members names, to be withdrawn from the movie. After an exchange of notices and pressure from the press, the names of the characters were changed and the tagline of a true story was withdrawn. Truth had emerged triumphant, but I was aggrieved and felt let down by the misrepresentation of events that I had been a part of.