Crime in Mumbai is usually seen through the prism of its famous underworld — for which people all over the country have some strange, sentimental attachment. The ways of the gangsters of old are romanticised in film and even in newspaper reports, even if that particular era of the “Dreaded Underworld Don” is long gone, together with smuggling and prohibition. But the past few weeks have revealed a more insidious and perhaps equally dangerous type of crime in the big city — the underbelly of sleaze which lies just under the bright lights of glamour.

The murder of Arunkumar Tikku and suspected murder of Karan Kakkad, both in the Lokhandwala areas and both possibly by the same gang, are a chilling example of how suckers fall into the hands of conmen (and women) and criminals. Some of the names are even familiar to us — stock broker Gautam Vora, now under arrest for helping prime suspect Vijay Palande hide from the police, was questioned for his possible involvement of the suicide of model Viveka Babaji.