The image of the quintessential 'informer', 'khabri' or 'tipper', a vital cog in the Mumbai police's wheel, is mostly of a shabbily dressed, emaciated man, lurking behind trees and lamp posts, making furtive calls to the cops. An image fed by films and crime serials. What isn't widely known is that most informers are wealthy businessmen and property owners. Avinash Solanki, aka Bali, the informer who was bumped off recently, led a lavish lifestyle; his proximity to the police, a mere bonus. What isn't in doubt, however, is that all informers have a large role to play in the police force.

In 2005, when a crime branch inspector was dismissed from service for links with the underworld, a deputy commissioner of police had sarcastically commented, "They want us to end the underworld, but will executives in suits and ties give us information? To catch a thief one needs to mingle with thieves."