Mumbai, April 25: Even as the IPL saga gets murkier, the lanes in Dongri and Nagpada are rife with rumours that the issue erupted after Bhai shelled out a ‘khoka’ of Rs 1,500 to acquire stakes in the Kochi team
“Bhai wanted to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary by acquiring stakes in the cricket team. He loves cricket; betting too,” said one of his cronies, who owns a shop in Chor Bazaar.
The chief executive of D Company is simply called Bhai. Street-smart don Dawood Ibrahim’s life story is entwined in the narrow lanes of Bori Mohalla, where he was known for his bol bachchan or babbling ways. The bol bachchan continues to this day.
Dawood’s cronies are the caretakers of this legacy. The so-called thugs also double up as his public relations executives.
‘Koi mushkil nahin.’ It is not difficult. ‘Bhai ne kya phone gumaya aur paper pahunch gaya.’ Paper is money in the underworld lingo.
The underworld grapevine is agog with news that Dawood has invested in the IPL. It is part of the D Company’s PR exercise. The babble is engineered to give the gang’s image a boost.
It is not surprising when names like Khalid Boxer or Sikander crop up during conversations with the ‘PR executive’. An outsider would almost fall for this loose talk. In most cases, the cronies spew half-truths.
Everyone in the underworld knows that Salim Chinka alias Sikander, who shifted from Dongri to Karachi, is close to Dawood’s right-hand-man Chhota Shakeel. So it is not difficult to draw an inference that he could also be part of the money transactions. Details of the other Karachi-based goon Khalid Boxer’s career are also selectively leaked making sure that little or no information is available to fresh-on-the-block reporters. Therein lies the danger of misinformed, ill-researched pieces winning newsprint which in turn means publicity for the sidekicks.
The underworld PR executives know their jobs far too well. Their skills are on par with their counterparts in the corporate world. These are the same men who threaten the dhoors, or prey as they are called on the streets of Mumbai . They can instill fear in the minds and it’s well known that the fear of death can be more cruel than death.
The underworld grapevine is agog with news that Dawood has invested in the IPL. It is part of the
D Company’s PR exercise.
The babble is engineered to give the gang’s image a boost. In most cases, the cronies spew half-truths.
——-Agencies