Quotation gangs based in Kochi reaped a windfall when the city witnessed roaring business during the real estate boom some years ago. They had a highly organized system of controlling, extorting money from or taking part in illegal activities such as converting agricultural lands into plots and soil mining.
However, activities of mafia groups operating out of the state’s commercial capital hit a low ebb following the crash in the property market. The crisis forced them to search for other avenues of organized crime. It has also heralded the arrival of a new generation of fraudsters.
Getting creative with fraud
Recently, a group of persons approached the owner of a hair-fixing center in Kochi, introducing themselves as the members of a prominent caste organization. They demanded money, threatening him that they would expose the ‘illegal operations’ taking place at the center. Frightened, the victim paid them the amount they demanded. Later it was revealed that the goons were in no way connected to the caste organization, and, in fact, they were members of a quotation gang.
A few months ago, a notorious criminal was arrested for allegedly threatening a real estate contractor in Kochi. As part of the investigation, the police traced all his e-mail accounts and found details of hundreds of major land deals taken place in and around Kochi and newspaper advertisements of new projects. During interrogation, he revealed to the cops that they were his ‘work materials’. Such information was collected to threaten contractors and real estate brokers to manipulate deals and obtain a share of commissions, he told the police.
There are gangs who gather every possible bit of information regarding new projects using the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Builders and contractors who flout building rules are their easy preys.
Making big bucks through realty deals
It is these quotation gangs that offer help to builders and developers to convert paddy fields and bulldoze hills without the permission of the departments concerned. Such illegal activities take place during the night by making a mockery of stop memos issued by authorities. The gangs charge a sum ranging between Rs 500 and Rs 100 per load as commission. Armed gangs will escort the vehicles used for transporting soil from the site. The same soil will be later used for leveling paddy fields illegally.
It is alleged that many notorious goons are helping the real estate groups to clinch deals and settle scores between them. There are many real estate developers and builders who seek the help of criminal gangs to put pressure on non-complying people and acquire their property forcefully. These gangs also target properties entangled in litigation and help the builders to purchase them at cheap rates.
In most cases, these criminals threaten the owners to reach an agreement by fixing a certain percentage of the money involved in the deal as their commission.
Similar incidents are reported in Kozhikode as well. Several cases have been registered with different police stations in the city in connection with attempts to extort money from builders of flats and villas.
In Kottayam, a housewife filed a complaint against the attempts to mine soil from her property without her consent. The very next day, an armed gang barged into her house and threatened the family. Fearing for their lives, the woman signed an agreement giving permission to remove earth from her plot.
Such mafia operations are rampant in the coastal areas of Alappuzha and the paddy fields in Kuttanad. They take quotations to divert farmland overnight for construction activities.
These gangs have also made their presence felt in the local gambling industry. The gamblers seek the service of armed men to keep cops at bay, but there were incidents of quotation groups attacking the illegal gambling dens and making away with huge sums of money. There are gangsters who are paid to provide security to drug peddlers and those who smuggle banned tobacco products. In districts like Malappuram, such gangs work closely with the sand mining mafia.
In Malabar, quotation groups that target hawala carriers are active. Authorities have confirmed that the flow of hawala money into the state has increased significantly of late. As per official estimates, the five districts in Malabar receive unaccounted money amounting to about Rs 300 crore on a daily basis. The sharp rise in the flow of hawala money has resulted in the increase in the number of gangs who are specialized in attacking carriers.
Spreading tentacles of terror
Recently, at a preparatory meeting for the Alappuzha Beach Festival, a majority of the committee members vehemently opposed the proposal to conduct programs in connection with the fest on the beach. They pointed out the rise in the activity of criminal gangs on the beach and cited public safety as the reason for opposing the move. Finally, the meeting, attended by the district collector and the district police chief, decided to shift the venue to a local school ground. However, the decision drew flak from different quarters, with a section of officials alleging that the move reflected the inability of the police to command fear in criminals. In the end, the programs were conducted on the beach under heavy security cover.
The sale of narcotic substances has shown a rising trend in places such as Punnamada, Alappuzha beach, and in the deep and dark corners of the city. Most of the members of the drug peddling rackets are in the 18-25 age group. They are controlled by a well-established network of dealers. If somebody files a complaint, the gangs would be tipped off in no time about a possible police action. These notorious groups would not hesitate to attack those who lodge police complaints against them. They also look to earn quick money by robbing people in broad daylight.
Bicycle thieves
Most of these quotation gangs and rackets engaged in drug peddling use stolen bikes for their operations. They would abandon the vehicle after committing the crime. Of late, gangs stealing brand-new motorbikes from showrooms for their operations have also emerged. Recently, a group of criminals stole a bike from a showroom in Maradu after knocking the security guard unconscious. The bike was later found abandoned in Chennai. Though the police are yet to nab the culprits, they assume that the vehicle was used for quotation works.
Bloody gang wars
There has been a surge in gang wars in recent times, particularly in northern districts, with criminal groups settling scores over clashes. In Kasaragod district alone, six persons were murdered in bloody gang wars during the past five years. Most of these fights were triggered by rivalry among groups indulged in gold smuggling, ganja peddling, vehicle thefts, sand smuggling etc.
A majority of quotation groups operating out of Kasaragod are hired by illicit sand mining groups based in the villages bordering Karnataka, drug mafia in Mangalore, and the Gulf-based gold smuggling rackets. They work as agents and offer security to facilitate distribution of smuggled gold through the Mangalore airport among clients.
These goons also play a key role in the smuggling of sand into the state from various parts of Karnataka in container trucks. Though there is a ban on transporting sand from Karnataka to Kerala, illicit sand mining groups use these gangs for their covert operations to escape the police eye.
College managements hiring goons
Recently, an aided college in Alappuzha witnessed an ugly fight between two student organizations in connection with the college union elections. The situation went out of hand after the issue got politicized. The management convened a meeting and formed a ‘college protection committee’ with parents and a number of ‘well-wishers’ from outside the campus as members.
The next few days saw the outsiders walking in and out of the college freely. They would come to the college around 8 a.m., and sit in the veranda during the entire day. Then only the students’ union leaders understood the true motives behind the management’s move to form the committee. The ‘outsiders’ were local goons who were hired by the management for the smooth conduct of the elections. As expected, the union elections were held peacefully!
There are allegations that some of the self-financing colleges in the state hire goons for implementing fee hike. Recently, students’ unions at a self-financing college in Alappuzha protested against the management’s decision to increase fees. The month-long protest did not turn violent even once, for the union leaders were well aware of the deal struck by the management with local goondas.
Recently, a student, who raised a complaint against the poor quality of food served by the canteen at a self-financing college, was ‘counseled’ by some goons in the area.
Teaming up with loan sharks
Tourists are rarely seen at a lodge located on the beach off Alappuzha coast. But, every day around noon a group of people would gather there. It is an open secret that the lodge is the ‘court’ of the local blade mafia where defaulters are ‘prosecuted’. If those hapless souls who defaulted on loan repayment are reluctant to attend the ‘hearing’, the goons hired by the blade mafia will forcefully bring them there at night. Once the torture session gets over, the defaulters will be ready to do anything demanded by the loan sharks.