To intimidate,escort,recover or kill,’quotation groups’ in demand in Kerala

The results of their operations appear in the local pages day after day,though these are not usually splashed on the headlines. One recent operation was the assault on a journalist,with a deputy police superintendent arrested last week on charges of hiring the supari gang. The journalist had written stories against the officer.

It is the parallel economy of Kerala that has created a huge demand for criminal groups,says Dr James Vadacumchery,a former criminologist with the state police. A sense of insecurity,coupled with a lack of faith in the legal system,has resulted in a section of society turning to these muscle groups,Vadacumchery says. He explains: many feel that assaulting a rival is far effective than taking the matter to the police; besides,the legal system is expensive and tardy while a contracted gang would give you instant results.

Vadacumchery said that the police has to work within limits due to their accountability to government,media and society at large. This gives an impression that the force is ineffective along with their general weakness in functioning. “If one wants to get a rented property back through the legal system,it may take years in Kerala where everybody looks interested in filing a litigation. But that job would be easily done by a criminal gang.”

A senior police officer said the supari gangs are fallout of the construction boom in Kerala. There is a heavy demand for riverbank sand for construction but the government has strict regulations against quarrying of sand. The industry,therefore,depends on the gangs to ensure hassle-free supply of sand; they can defy the police. Gangsters on motorcycles accompany sand trucks day and night,he said.

A few months ago,a young IPS officer in Kochi was assaulted by a gang when he tried to prevent illegal quarrying. There have been several other incidents of the sand mafia attacking government officials and civilians working as police informers.

Other major areas that involve supari gangs include money-lending and vehicle financing. Since both sectors are growing in Kerala,the industry is banking on muscle power to tackle defaulters. Hiring supari gangs to threaten defaulters has almost attained a kind of legitimacy in the practices followed by some new generation banks,police sources said.

Private bus services in Kochi,too,have become an area of influence. Tough competition have necessitated a perceived need to defy traffic rules,which operators themselves dare not do but which hired toughs can. Gangs have been taking buses on lease,at times even easing the owner out of the service operation. Over 50 buses in Kochi have fallen into the grip of the criminal groups,industry sources said.

Police sources said it is difficult to handle such gangs effectively because most enjoy political patronage. Many politicians have an alliance with gangs whose members work as hit men for these leaders,the sources said,adding this constitutes a drawback “in the system”.