Mumbai: Social recognition made Dawood Ibrahim monster, says former top cop MN Singh

(From L-R) Senior journalist Khandekar, MN Singh, Jitendra Dixit and Charu Malik

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner M N Singh said that gangsters like Dawood Ibrahim become big when they are backed by politicians and influential people in society. Some officers go rogue because of political interference in the police force.

Singh minced no words while talking about the politician-underworld nexus and the Antilia case in which half a dozen cops have been arrested. Singh, who led a massive onslaught against the underworld and supervised the 1993 serial blasts' investigation, was speaking at the launch function of journalist Jitendra Dixit's book "Bombay After Ayodhya".

The anecdotal book published by HarperCollins chronicles post-Babri mosque demolition riots in Mumbai and how they affected various spheres of life in the city including its politics, underworld, social fabric, film industry, financial market, and so on.

"Dawood Ibrahim became a monster because he was given social recognition. Good people hobnobbed with him. They felt great being seen in his company. Many builders and film producers kept gangsters on their payroll. Politicians use criminals because they think they have a hold over society. They can get votes. What can the police do in this? Politicians wake up only when it comes to their necks. Now I hear politicians getting involved with gangsters and are purchasing property from them," remarked Singh.

Singh expressed his anguish over the conduct of certain police officers from the force which he once commanded. Referring to the infamous Antilia case in which two encounter specialist cops were arrested for planting explosives outside Mukesh Ambani's residence, Antilia and killing a businessman, Singh said "There has not been a more shameful incident than this in the history of the Mumbai Police.

The motto of the Mumbai Police is to protect the good and finish the bad, but in this case, the cops acted in contradiction. An innocent person was killed. I can only apologise on behalf of the Mumbai police. Such things happen when politicians get involved. The police must be taken out of the political control to reform it."

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Senior journalist Rajiv Khandekar, who was another speaker at the event, said that Dixit's book reveals many interesting facts about the events that happened in Mumbai during the last thirty years. "Jitendra has been able to reach out to the investigation officer of the Pramod Mahajan murder case who was elusive and resigned from the police as soon as the investigation was completed. The book tells us the real circumstances which led Pravin Mahajan to shoot his brother," said Khandekar.

Anish Chandy, founder of Labyrinth Literary Agency who represents Dixit's book said that the idea of a book on the subject germinated when one night they went for a walk in the by-lanes of areas like Dongri, Nagpada and Mohammed Ali Road which have seen tremendous violence in the past few decades.

Actor and former journalist Charul Malik hosted the book launch event at the Mumbai Press Club on 12 December, 2022, which was attended by many journalists and police officers.