He implies that the liquor mafia could be controlling no less than three-fourths of the state’s booze trade, making several thousand crores a year. Police estimates are that the liquor mafia in the state makes at least Rs 10 to 15,000 crores a year, and employs “a few thousand’’ regular goons.

The prostitution racket, including organized girl running to service the Gulf markets, is another money spinner; after the land and real estate operations. Though state intelligence estimates peg the sex and land mafia’s turnover at about Rs 15,000 crore, police sources say this could really be “many times more.”

Criminologist Vadakkumchery says the biggest threat in Kerala could be what he calls the nexus crimes — ad hoc coalescing of the neta (leader), babu (bureaucrat), dalal (fixer) and dada (goon). “The pattern is now getting all the more established here,’’ he asserts.

Last year, Oommen Chandy’s Congress-led state Government pushed the Kerala Felonious Activities (Prevention) Ordinance 2005, an anti-goonda law, which immediately had rights activists crying havoc.

CM V S Achuthanandan, who took office in May this year simply let that lapse — he was one of its vocal critics earlier. Kerala is still to have a new anti-felon law that its home department is said to be working on.