Mumbai: Former Mumbai Police Commissioner MN Singh dropped a bombshell on Sunday when he declared that Hindus were safe during the 1992-93 communal riots only because of the "intervention" of the Shiv Sena.
The riots were pre-planned, Singh said at a function in Goregaon to release a book titled "Bombay Underworld — Then and Now", penned by former deputy municipal commissioner V. Balachandran.
The first consignment of arms and explosives were despatched by ship to Mumbai from Pakistan by the Dawood Ibrahim gang at the behest of the Inter Services Intelligence of Pakistan, well before the serial bomb blasts of March 1993, Singh said. The general impression was that the serial bombing was a reaction to the 1992-93 riots, but the landing of arms and RDX had begun in January 1993 itself, he pointed out.
Singh spoke about the D gang's influence on Bollywood industry
Singh said he was under tremendous pressure from powerful people not to arrest actor Sanjay Dutt from whose house in Bandra AK 47 assault rifles were seized but there was solid evidence of Dutt's role in the conspiracy. “We had recordings of as many as 12 telephonic conversations between Sanjay Dutt and Dawood Ibrahim," Singh contended.
"I did not yield to pressure and instead arrested him. Because of that my promotion as police commissioner was sought to be blocked by vested interests," alleged Singh, who was earlier joint commissioner (crime).
Bollywood was said to be majorly linked to the underworld, specially to D gang, Singh claimed. The don used to not only finance films but also decided on the casting of actors and distribution of film release territories, he alleged.
"Once noted film maker Subhash Ghai met me seeking police protection. He said Abu Salem had threatened to kill him if he did not give him the distribution rights of his film," said the former Mumbai top cop. Video distributors such as Samir Hingora and Hanif Kadawala, who were allegedly close to D company, used to call the shots in Bollywood. Hingora was even elected president of the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association.
The underworld was brought under control because of the tough action by Mumbai police, Singh said.
Balachandran recalled how he was targeted by the “bhais”, because of which the government provided him a gun that he used once to fire in the air to scare a violent mob that was opposing the demolition of illegal structures. The former civic body officials narrated his encounters with gangsters during his tenure as a deputy municipal commissioner in the '90s.
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