1993 Bombay bomb blasts: The blasts that created a rift in the Mumbai underworld
On March 12, 1993, a major terrorist attack took place in Mumbai, the financial capital of India, which shook the social fabric of the entire country forever. Its direct consequences were seen in the underworld as the serial bomb blasts led to a massive crackdown in D-Company, the most powerful criminal organization in the Mumbai underworld, headed by Dawood Ibrahim.
What actually happened?
On March 12, 1993, there were 12 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai. The attacks in a single day killed 257 people and injured 1,400. It was later proven that the attacks were coordinated by Dawood Ibrahim, and it is believed that he ordered and organized the bombings through his subordinates Tiger Memon and Yakub Memon. The attacks followed widespread communal riots across the country, including major Hindu-Muslim riots in Mumbai following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
The 12 places where the bombs exploded included the basement of Bombay Stock Exchange, Mandvi branch of Corporation Bank, Regional Passport Office, Air India Building, Zaveri Bazaar, Century Bazaar, three famous hotels and other places. At the same time, grenades were thrown at Mumbai International Airport.
All important places of the city were targeted which shook the city.
D-Company split
The bomb blasts enraged Dawood Ibrahim’s right-hand man Chhota Rajan. Rajan defected from D-Company, taking with him most of the Hindu members of the organization. Since Rajan had left D-Company on the basis of communal differences, Chhota Rajan’s gang came to be called the Hindu gang against the D-Company Muslim gang.
There were several shootouts and frequent clashes between the two gangs over the years, resulting in many more deaths. Reportedly, in 1994, Rajan lured Fillu Khan alias Bakhtiyar Ahmed Khan, an associate of Dawood, to a hotel room in Bangkok and tortured him to death. According to reports, Rajan’s men shot 10 people involved in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. ,
In September 2000, Dawood tracked down Rajan in Bangkok. Dawood’s associate Chhota Shakeel was deployed to kill Rajan, although the assassination failed. Shakeel fired at Rajan’s aide and his wife, but failed to fire at his main target.
This failed assassination attempt proved costly for David. Rajan’s associates tracked down and shot dead Vinod, a hotelier, in Mumbai in 2001, along with Sunil Sones, another Dawood associate. Both Vinod and Sunil had informed Dawood’s associates about Rajan’s whereabouts.
The conflict between the two gangs continued for years. Terrorism affected the lives of innocent citizens living in a fearful environment in the city. However, Mumbai Police defused the rivalry to some extent, bringing some peace to the city.
Currently, Dawood Ibrahim, who was declared a global terrorist by the United States in 2003, is not under arrest. According to many reports, Dawood lives in Karachi, Pakistan, although the Pakistani government denies this. Whereas, Chhota Rajan is lodged in an Indian jail after being extradited from Bali in 2015 following his arrest by the Indonesian police.