The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : When gangs engage in terror-marketing

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Saturday, May 01, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

When gangs engage in terror-marketing

Illegal moneylenders, drug peddlers and musclemen who make money through extortion and by settling civil disputes are thriving in the city of late, writes G. ANAND.

The city is witnessing a resurgence of criminal gangs thriving on drug peddling, intimidation and contract beating. On the night of April 21, Krishnan (65) of Peroorkada was seriously injured when a 10-member gang armed with swords barged into his house in search of his son, Ramesh. Among those arrested in connection with attack was `Gundukadu' Shabu, who police say is the leader of a Barton Hill based gang which runs a contract-beating and intimidation racket in the city.

The police case is that the Barton Hill gang had accepted money from one Vineesh, the owner of a shop in Peroorkada, to evacuate Ramesh who was running a video-shop there. The shop-owner had approached the Peroorkada police with the same demand sometime before. But since the issue was one of civil nature, the police refused to intervene.

The Circle Inspector (Peroorkada), Sudarshan, says that Vineesh hired the service of the Barton Hill gang to evacuate his tenant, Ramesh. "When Ramesh refused to be intimidated, the gang attacked his house at night," he says.

Police sources say that there are several gangs in the city, which thrive on intimidation and assault. Their services are mostly sought by those seeking to settle civil disputes outside the legal system. For instance, private moneylenders are known to employ thugs to make defaulters settle their loans. Landlords looking to evacuate tenants often use the services of criminal gangs. Private financiers who offer `easy' loans for buying vehicles employ musclemen to recover vehicles when the owners default in payment.

The gangs also thrive on `protection money' given by those peddling ganja, brown sugar and illicit arrack. According to police, several bar hotels managements in the city keep `neighbourhood musclemen' on their payroll to ensure smooth conduct of their business. Pavement vendors selling fruit, those running wayside eateries (thattukadas) and push cart traders are known to give `protection money' to criminal gangs.

Police say that several markets under the Municipal Corporation are controlled by criminal elements. The Corporation annually auctions its markets. The person who wins the auction has to pay a fixed amount to the local body. He can then sell the market space to vendors looking for a place to hawk their goods. The daily collection from vendors at the market itself runs into several thousands of rupees, police say.

The Deputy Inspector of Police (Thiruvananthapuram Range), Arun Kumar Sinha, describes the modus operandi of the gangs as `terror marketing'. "The gangs use the threat of violence for making financial gain. Most gangs gain notoriety through some high profile acts of violence. They use the notoriety to make money through extortion and settling civil disputes involving property and money", he says.

Police sources say that several of the gangs are flush with money that some gang leaders have turned moneylenders themselves. They offer loans on zero security to traders and those conducting illegal businesses such as spirit retailing and drug peddling. The money is given on `meter' interest basis. "That is the interest goes up every 24 hours like the ticking of the fare meter of an auto rickshaw. A Rs. 100 loan has to be paid as Rs. 110 after 24 hours.

The next day the principal amount on which the meter interest is charged becomes Rs. 110," an official says. The gangs use the threat of violence to recover the loans.

Of late, police attention is focussed on a Pettah based gang which is suspected of peddling buprenorhpine, a drug containing opium and known by its trade name Tidigesic, as an alternate for brown sugar to drug addicts in the city. The gang's operation had come into focus following the murder of a CITU activist, Aji (28), this week.

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