Mumbai: It was an evening that felt like a walk down the shadowy alleys of Mumbai's criminal past, illuminated by stories from the men who once battled it from the frontlines.
A Rare Gathering of Police Legends
A rare and powerful gathering of Maharashtra’s retired and serving top police officers came together on Thursday for the launch of former Mumbai commissioner of police (CP) and Maharashtra’s director general of police D. Sivanandhan’s book ‘The Brahmastra Unleashed’, referring to enactment of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
Former top cops gather at the launch of ex-Mumbai Commissioner D. Sivanandhan’s book ‘The Brahmastra Unleashed’ | Photo Credits: Salman Ansari
First-Person Chronicle of the Underworld Era
The book is a first-person account of how Mumbai’s infamous underworld was annihilated, in a tribute to the officials of the city’s police force. The account comes from one of the key top cops, Sivanandhan, who played a key role in ending the dreadful era of organised crime in the city.
Much like a crime thriller, the book documents the real crime incidents of the wrath unleashed by gangsters during Sivanandhan’s time as Joint CP (crime) in Mumbai from 1998 to 2001.
A Nostalgic Evening of Shared Memories
The book launch ceremony quickly turned into a nostalgic experience for all the former officials who shared various anecdotes from their time in service and their face-offs with the underworld.
Former Mumbai CPs including Julio Ribeiro, MN Singh, Satish Sahney, along with the serving director general of police Rashmi Shukla and Mumbai CP Deven Bharti also joined the ceremony.
Photo Credits: Salman Ansari
Tributes to Sivanandhan’s Role
Launching the book, Ribeiro recalled the former top officials’ different styles to curb the underworld menace. “MN Singh tried to tackle the underworld in various ways and Ronald Mendonca in other ways. The police had realised that getting the gangsters to kill each other was not working. Finally, it was Sivanandhan who fired a brahmastra and tackled it,” he said.
On-the-Ground Experience Matters
Singh highlighted that while many police and government officials have written about the underworld, most of them have seen it from a distance whereas ‘The Brahmastra Unleashed’ is a work written by the person who played a huge role to curb organised crime in Mumbai.
Sivanandhan’s Reflections
“After multiple politicians including MLAs were shot dead, I was asked to replace Sivanandhan but I denied. At times, we were asked not to take action but we still managed to take strict action these people. The people of Bombay and the media were with us and they never complained because they wanted to get rid of the fear,” Singh added.
Journey from Gadchiroli to Mumbai Crime Branch
Recalling his journey of joining Mumbai police, Sivanandhan stated that he was deputed in the jungles of Gadchiroli from where Mendonca brought him to Mumbai and gave him the position of Joint CP Crime. He mentioned that the book was about Mumbai police as the work was handled by the CPs and not about him as he was just an assistant to them.
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MCOCA’s Enduring Impact
Talking about the impact of MCOCA, Sivanandhan said, “We detained 1,600 people in three years and had recovered 2,500 weapons. While only two dozen cases were registered and only 64 arrests, the law has survived till today unlike other similar laws like TADA.”
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