Suresh Dubey Murder Case: Vasai-Virar strongman Bhai Thakur, 3 others acquitted by Pune TADA court

The Bhai Thakur gang received a major reprieve on Wednesday when a special court in Pune acquitted its leader in the sensational Suresh Dube murder case.

Suresh Dube, 31, a builder, was shot dead at point-blank range on Nalasopara railway station platform during broad daylight allegedly by the Bhai Thakur gang.

After this murder, the stock of Jayendra Vishnu Thakur, 70, who was arrested by daredevil Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Sudhakar Suradkar, shot up big time in Mumbai's underworld.

Bhai Thakur and his terror reign

Bhai Thakur was a part of the late Varadaraj Mudaliar's gold smuggling network.

The coast off Vasai-Virar was a major landing point for gold biscuits smuggled in Arab dhows from Dubai. Vardhabhai was scouting for a reliable person to safely land consignments of the precious metal. He was impressed by the skills of Bhai Thakur and his gang. Bhai was a regular visitor to Vardhabhai's apartment in Vasudha building near Maheshwari Udyan, Matunga East. After the death of Vardhabhai on January 2, 1989, Bhai started working for Dawood Ibrahim gang which had rushed in to fill in the huge vacuum created by the demise of don Vardhabhai.

Bhai then smelt a huge opportunity when the real estate boom started not only in Mumbai, but also in the Vasai-Virar belt. He acquired large chunks of land and that is when Suresh Dube, a small-time builder crossed his path. Every elections, political parties would use him for money and muscle power.

Foray in politics

However, he found it cost-effective to make his brother Hitendra Thakur and nephew Kshtij Thakur MLAs. He demonstrated his leech-like hold over Vasai-Virar in 2019 when Bahujan Vikas Aghadi supported by him convincingly defeated encounter specialist inspector Pradeep Sharma who was the Shiv Sena's candidate.

He has the support of some of the top politicians of Maharashtra and that is the reason why his writ runs almost unchallenged in Vasai-Virar. The Dube family is the only one which is determined to put an end to his reign. Neha, daughter of Suresh Dube, told FPJ that “We will appeal to the Supreme Court against today’s acquittal. We will not give up.”