The recent murder of Thota Ramana alias Oil Ramu by contract killers in Visakhapatnam, has exposed the dark underbelly of the city, where rowdies and small-time extortionists are turning into hardcore criminals and contract killers.
If not nipped in the bud, they could pose serious law and order issues and the city may very soon have gangsters such as Nayeem, who was recently eliminated in Hyderabad.
Five gangs
Over the last two years, the city has witnessed five killings as part of gang rivalry, and at present there are about five prominent gangs involved in extortion, blackmail, contract killing, thefts, land grabbing and executing contract threats.
The gangs are said to be that of Kasim in the Fishing Harbour area, Merugu Chittibabu alias Chittimamu in Marripalem, Dhanala Kalyan in Pendurthi, Santosh Raja and Mahesh in Old Town area. It was Santosh Raja and Mahesh who took the ‘supari’ of Rs.15 lakh from M. Srinivas Reddy alias Bunk Reddy, to bump off Oil Ramu, who was once his business partner, said ACP (CTF) I. Chittibabu, whose team cracked the murder case.
According to police, each gang has about 10 to 25 members and they basically indulge in extortion from shopowners, including roadside hawkers. They basically focus on shopowners who sell illegal products such as gutkha and ‘khaini’ and run businesses such as prostitution, scrap dealing and oil and material pilfering from port areas.
“But this was the second time in the last one week that we realised that they are also getting into contract killings. Apart from Oil Ramu case, in the recent murder of an ex-serviceman by name Yesudas, the perpetrators had contacted one of the gangs to execute the killings and this appears to be a new trend, which is a worrying factor, as things are moving the Hyderabad and Mumbai way,” said a senior police officer.
“Not a small business”
A senior police officer informed The Hindu that each of the gang earns between Rs.3 lakh and Rs.5 lakh per month as extortion, and it is learnt that Bunk Reddy had settled the deal for Rs.15 lakh and paid Rs.8 lakh in two instalments. The murderers of Yesudas also talked of paying about Rs.5 lakh, but it did not materialise and they did the job themselves, said an officer.
The interesting aspect in the Oil Ramu case was that the contract killers were first hired by the deceased to eliminate Bunk Reddy, but the tables turned when Reddy offered a higher price. This shows that there is no affinity and the price matters, said ACP Chittibabu.
For each job there is a fixed rate and it depends on the customer, nature of the job and the value of the target.
Weapons
The gangs possess huge cache of weapons, including swords, knives, iron rods and sticks. But a ‘tapancha’ was used in the murder of Oil Ramu. Police suspect that a couple of them such as Kasim and Chittibabu, might possess country-made firearms. “Intelligence report says that one of them has a sophisticated revolver. We are investigating to find out who has it,” said an inspector.
Santosh Raju, who shot Oil Ramu with a ‘tapancha’, purchased it from Berhampur and the police also seized one extra cartridge.
“Country-made weapons such as ‘tapancha’ and a little sophisticated .32 or 9mm locally made pistols can be procured from MP, Chaattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar. On interrogation, a Santosh Raju gang member confessed to having developed contacts with arms dealers from these States,” said an investigating officer.
