The first murder in Mumbai's mill district was that of an MLA
The first murder in Mumbai's mill district was that of an MLAThe plot to murder MLA Krishna Desai was allegedly hatched on the ancient Maratha fort at Sion on June 15, 1970. A group of teenagers had gathered there one afternoon to figure out a plan to terminate Desai.
The CPI leader wielded tremendous power over Girangoan-areas extending from Byculla to Dadar. And the teenagers were fuelled with the zeal of the Marathi manoos, recalled Vishwanath Kathade alias Vishya Kathade.
Murder was no consideration for them, he said.
Kathade remembers that it was a rainy day as the group headed for Lalbaug junction after a brief meeting at Sion Fort. An hour later, they were at the Bharatmata Cinema junction.
They waited for darkness after assessing Desai's security arrangement. He did not have bodyguards. Desai was training about 70 members in the gymnasium that evening. He himself was training vigorously and looked much younger for his age.
Suddenly, the lights in the gym went off, sending the members into chaos. The killers gained entry into the gymnasium and closed in on Desai. The group allegedly went on a stabbing spree. Kathade revealed that knives ripped apart Desai's stomach and left multiple wounds in the chest.
Desai started swaying. He covered his wounds with his hand to prevent blood from spurting out. Minutes later, he collapsed on the floor and with him, the communist bastion in Girangaon. Shiv Sena candidate Wamanrao Mahadik was soon elected as MLA from the mill belt of Lalbaug and Parel. A large number of them were soon recruited in the mills.
The teenagers were too naive to understand who had accepted the supari to kill Desai. The motive was beyond their comprehension as the first murder in the mill district shook the city.
The killers did not know that it would set a trend where politicians, builders, owners, union and the underworld would ruin the lives of thousands of workers in the mill district of Mumbai. Hundreds of mills, pharmaceutical companies, engineering units and prime assets would be made sick and liquidated for personal gains.
The mill workers did not realise that Boski and Stretchlon textiles from Japan were cheaper and the mill owner did not have too much to depend on them. The multinationals realised that it made economical sense to shift their manufacturing units to remote areas in the country.
More than 500 acres of mill land were to be sold for around Rs 9,000 crore. This was expected to fetch them double (Rs 18,000 crore) once the projects were completed.
The industrial belt extending from Kurla to Thane measuring hundred of acres was demolished and replaced by huge residential complexes raking in several thousand crores. These patches of land were leased out by the government for employment and development of the state's economy.
The process received a setback when Sunit Khatau Thak(55) was planning to sell his 13 acre mill land and move to Borivali. Two motorcycle-borne gunmen hired by Amar Naik allegedly took him by surprise on Mahalaxmi bridge on May 7, 1994.
Naik was led to be believe that the sale of the land would have brought a windfall of Rs 200 crore or five per cent of the deal to his rival Arun Gawli. Soon dozens of builders approached the Naik-Gawli gangs to get land cleared for develo pment, if police records are anything to go by.
Barely had the shock over Khatau's murder died down when unionist Dr Datta Samant was gunned down outside his Powai residence on January 17, 1997. It was a dispute over the closing of Premier Automobile plants at Kurla and Dombivali.
Police investigations indicate gangster Chhota Rajan and his second-in-command Guru Satam wanted to take over the union business in the northern suburbs of Mumbai. They realised that huge amount of protection money was up for grabs.
On April 17, 1997, four months after Dr Samant's death, mill-owner Vallabhai Thakkar was gunned down by Gawli's lieutenant Sada Pawle. Thakkar had invested around Rs 10 crore in modernising Raghuvanshi Mills at Lower Parel and some builders did not appreciate that.
While the police did not have many high profile officers who could muscle their way into the deals, the underworld realised there was money in mill land and real estate deals. Some dons are allegedly acting at the behest of the politicians, and a large number are believed to be sleeping partners in the ongoing real estate boom.
| Cloth con |
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Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim began smuggling imported textiles including Boski and Stretchlon fabrics from Japan in the 1970s, one yard of each costing Rs 55 and Rs 90 respectively |
| First most shocking industrialist's murder |
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Mill-owner Sunit Khatau was killed after sustaining 11 bullets in broad daylight when he was travelling in his white Mercedes car |
| Datta Samant, two days before his murder |
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"I think I am the only foolish trade union leader fighting for the workers' rights and I know I am going to die an unsung hero" |
| Mill story: then and now |
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The Khataus were one of the earliest mill-owing families in the city, they were 125 years old in 1994.
During the 1990s the mill declared a loss of Rs 54 crore.
Earlier this month, the National Textile Cooperation put in Rs 150 crore to modernise Tata Mills at Parel, Podar Mills in Lower Parel and Indu Mills which is near Lalbaug. They will now use German and American equipment. |
