J Dey

Getting a toehold in the underworld has become a big struggle in the past few years, leave alone making it big. Gangsters are finding it difficult to fool  the masses for  long, as people don't easily succumb to threats any longer.

If you trace fugitive gangster Bunty Pande's moves since a few years, you will realise his recent zeal to protect the Uttar Bhartis in Mumbai is yet another move to gain mileage. Pande has been trying to break fresh grounds without an organised syndicate. He has made relentless efforts with a few cheap hirelings.

Breakaway gangsters Ravi Pujari, Hemant Pujari, Santosh Shetty or the Pandav Putra gang, like Pande, also want to make it big. Even those belonging to the Upadhyaya gang are also eyeing a lion's share of the underworld income. The competition is stiff.

Similar to a corporate start-up, newcomers are pitted against experienced rivals like the D-Company or the Nana Company headed by Chhota Rajan. Like a CEO, the gang leader has to be a great speaker, who may even have to use action to get his message across. It is also the quality of recruitment, work, level of motivation, and perks that make a difference.

As a crime branch officer pointed, "You can't fire 15 feet off the target and expect the victim to take the gangster seriously."

Dawood's success lies in hiring a high-profile assassin like Feroz Konkani alias Mamu for an exorbitant price. Even Fayeem Machmach is paid a large sum for his threatening rhetoric.
 
Chhota Rajan had highly paid men like Balu Dokre, Guru Satam or O P Singh  alias Wilson to supervise his operations in Mumbai.

Experienced dons knew how to hobnob with cops and keep them on the pay roll. But now, it appears like the new breed of gangsters broke away from their mentors without picking up the tricks of the trade. Cops are happy with the new targets offering easy shooting practice, which helps them play the number game.