Manya Surve
Encyclopedia
Manohar Arjun Surve better known as Manya Surve, was an infamous Indian urban dacoit and gangster in the Bombay underworld. His death in 1982 during an encounter with the Bombay police
became known as the city's first recorded encounter killing. However, the spate of encounter killings only increased in the late 1980s and further rose after the 1993 Bombay bombings; a total of 622 alleged criminals were killed in police encounters from 1982 to 2004.
graduate from Kirti College and formed a gang of students during his years there, due to the influence of his stepbrother Bhargav Dada. Bhargav was a feared thug from Agar Bazar in Worli
. In 1969, Surve was involved in the murder of a man named Dandekar, with his stepbrother, Bhargav and an associate, Manya Podhkar. The trio were soon arrested by Police Inspector E.S. Dabolkar and were subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
, Surve developed a fierce rivalry with another gangster, Suhas Bhatkar a.k.a "Potya". Annoyed by Surve’s terror tactics, the prison authorities had him transferred to Ratnagiri
jail. There, he took part in a hunger strike
and lost almost 20 kg, before being shifted to the local civil hospital. Surve utilized this opportunity to successfully evade custody on 14 November 1979, and returned to Bombay, having served over nine years of his sentence.
and Vishnu Patil from Dombivili. They were soon joined by another hood, Uday Shetty in March, 1980.
The gang's first robbery took place on 5 April 1980, in which they stole an Ambassador car
. The vehicle was later used to loot Rs 5,700 from Laxmi Trading Company near Currey Road. On 15 April, the gang savagely assaulted and almost killed Sheikh Aziz, an enemy of Sheikh Munir, near Kala Killa in the Dharavi
slum. On 30 April, they stabbed a police constable when he was escorting gang rival, Vijay Ghadge to a police station in Worli
.
Borrowing the plot from a James Hadley Chase
novel which he had read in prison, Surve decided to loot money from the government milk scheme in a bid to gain recognition from the leaders of the Bombay underworld. The gang with the addition of Dayanand Shetty, Parshuram Katkar, Moreshwar Narvekar, and Kishore Sawant stole a car near Barkha Bijlee in Mahim
, and went on to execute a heist of Rs 1.26 lakh near Govandi
. The stolen vehicle was later found abandoned near National College in Bandra, exactly as penned in the Chase novel.
Another famous robbery undertaken by Manya Surve's gang included Rs 1.6 lakh from Canara Bank’s branch on Sion-Trombay road and Duke and Sons Company at Deonar
. Manya Surve's criminal activities was not only confined to heists and robberies. He was also involved in narcotics trafficking, as he saw that the profits derived from it was considerable.
On 22 June 1981, Sheikh Munir was picked up from a chemical company near Kalyan
. A few days later, Dayanand Shetty and Parshuram Katkar were arrested at a lodge in Goregoan. Anticipating his capture, Surve slipped into an aide’s hideout in Bhiwandi on 19 November 1981. When police squads finally broke into the apartment, they recovered a hand grenade, a country-made revolver and some live ammunition.
Surve was finished after systematic police operations led to a breakdown of his gang's activities. After the arrest of his cohort Uday Shetty, he was the only remaining member of the gang who was not in prison.
After noticing the squad close in and take positions, Surve took out his Webley and Scott
revolver. However, before he could squeeze the trigger, Surve was mortally wounded by two police officers Raja Tambat and Isaque Bagwan, who fired five bullets into his chest and shoulder.
Surve was dragged from the scene and put on an ambulance. While on the way to KEM Hospital, he kept screaming that the police had not given him a fair chance to defend himself. He succumbed to his injuries a few minutes later. This encounter was the end of Surve's two year spree of urban dacoity and crime. It is generally believed that it was the underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar
who tipped off the police about his whereabouts, after finding his position being challenged by Surve.
blockbuster movie, Agneepath
. The movie's main character, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan (played by Amitabh Bachchan
) was heavily based on Surve, with Bachchan even copying the gangster's voice. The film was not a great hit at the box office but earned Amitabh Bachchan a National Award for Best Actor
.
Mumbai Police
The Mumbai Police is the police force of the city of Mumbai, India. It has the primary responsibilities of law enforcement and investigation within the limits of Mumbai. The department's motto is ""...
became known as the city's first recorded encounter killing. However, the spate of encounter killings only increased in the late 1980s and further rose after the 1993 Bombay bombings; a total of 622 alleged criminals were killed in police encounters from 1982 to 2004.
Early years
Born in 1944, Surve moved to Bombay with his mother and stepfather. He was a B.A.Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
graduate from Kirti College and formed a gang of students during his years there, due to the influence of his stepbrother Bhargav Dada. Bhargav was a feared thug from Agar Bazar in Worli
Worli
-History:Worli was one of the original seven islands that constituted the city of Mumbai. Although primarily a fishing village, the Worli Fort, a British fort that is now in ruins, is located there. Its original resident was the legendary Dishankeshwar Kalsi who has also been recognized in several...
. In 1969, Surve was involved in the murder of a man named Dandekar, with his stepbrother, Bhargav and an associate, Manya Podhkar. The trio were soon arrested by Police Inspector E.S. Dabolkar and were subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
Imprisonment and escape
While incarcerated at the Yerwada jail in PoonaPune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
, Surve developed a fierce rivalry with another gangster, Suhas Bhatkar a.k.a "Potya". Annoyed by Surve’s terror tactics, the prison authorities had him transferred to Ratnagiri
Ratnagiri
Ratnāgiri is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri district in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan.The Sahyadri mountains border Ratnagiri to the east...
jail. There, he took part in a hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
and lost almost 20 kg, before being shifted to the local civil hospital. Surve utilized this opportunity to successfully evade custody on 14 November 1979, and returned to Bombay, having served over nine years of his sentence.
Mumbai underworld
After his return to Bombay, Surve formed a gang of robbers and recruited his two trusted lieutenants, Sheikh Munir from DharaviDharavi
Dharavi is a slum and administrative ward, over parts of Sion, Bandra, Kurla and Kalina suburbs of Mumbai, India. It is sandwiched between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east, and spread over an area of 175 hectares, or...
and Vishnu Patil from Dombivili. They were soon joined by another hood, Uday Shetty in March, 1980.
The gang's first robbery took place on 5 April 1980, in which they stole an Ambassador car
Hindustan Ambassador
The Hindustan Ambassador is a car manufactured by Hindustan Motors of India. It has been in production since 1958 with few modifications or changes and is based on the Morris Oxford III model, first made by the Morris Motor Company at Cowley, Oxford in the United Kingdom from 1956 to 1959.Despite...
. The vehicle was later used to loot Rs 5,700 from Laxmi Trading Company near Currey Road. On 15 April, the gang savagely assaulted and almost killed Sheikh Aziz, an enemy of Sheikh Munir, near Kala Killa in the Dharavi
Dharavi
Dharavi is a slum and administrative ward, over parts of Sion, Bandra, Kurla and Kalina suburbs of Mumbai, India. It is sandwiched between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east, and spread over an area of 175 hectares, or...
slum. On 30 April, they stabbed a police constable when he was escorting gang rival, Vijay Ghadge to a police station in Worli
Worli
-History:Worli was one of the original seven islands that constituted the city of Mumbai. Although primarily a fishing village, the Worli Fort, a British fort that is now in ruins, is located there. Its original resident was the legendary Dishankeshwar Kalsi who has also been recognized in several...
.
Borrowing the plot from a James Hadley Chase
James Hadley Chase
James Hadley Chase is the best-known pseudonym of the British writer Rene Brabazon Raymond who also wrote under the names James L. Docherty, Ambrose Grant, and Raymond Marshall. Chase is one of the best known thriller writers of all time...
novel which he had read in prison, Surve decided to loot money from the government milk scheme in a bid to gain recognition from the leaders of the Bombay underworld. The gang with the addition of Dayanand Shetty, Parshuram Katkar, Moreshwar Narvekar, and Kishore Sawant stole a car near Barkha Bijlee in Mahim
Mahim
Mahim is a neighbourhood in Mumbai. It is also the name of a railway station in Mahim area, on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Railway railway line. In ancient times, the area was known as Maijim, Mejambu, Mahikawati....
, and went on to execute a heist of Rs 1.26 lakh near Govandi
Govandi
Govandi is a suburban neighbourhood in eastern Mumbai, India. Govandi is serviced by the Harbour Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway.-Geography:The railway line passing through Govandi divides it into two halves, Govandi and Govandi ....
. The stolen vehicle was later found abandoned near National College in Bandra, exactly as penned in the Chase novel.
Another famous robbery undertaken by Manya Surve's gang included Rs 1.6 lakh from Canara Bank’s branch on Sion-Trombay road and Duke and Sons Company at Deonar
Deonar
Deonar is a neighbourhood in the eastern suburb of Mumbai, India. It has gained prominence for being the location of the largest dumping ground in Mumbai and also the location of city's largest abattoir, Deonar Municipal Abattoir -Important Landmarks:...
. Manya Surve's criminal activities was not only confined to heists and robberies. He was also involved in narcotics trafficking, as he saw that the profits derived from it was considerable.
Police crackdown
The gang's various successful heists and robberies brought a tremendous amount of heat on Manya Surve and his gang. As a result, the police were put under great pressure and they launched Operation Manya Surve to capture Surve and curb his gang's activities.On 22 June 1981, Sheikh Munir was picked up from a chemical company near Kalyan
Kalyan
Kalyan is a city in Thane district of Maharashtra, and a major railway station lying at the junction of the north-east and south-east lines of the suburban Mumbai division of the Central Railway, 53 km north-east of Mumbai. Kalyan is also a major Taluka place, a tehsil of the Thane district...
. A few days later, Dayanand Shetty and Parshuram Katkar were arrested at a lodge in Goregoan. Anticipating his capture, Surve slipped into an aide’s hideout in Bhiwandi on 19 November 1981. When police squads finally broke into the apartment, they recovered a hand grenade, a country-made revolver and some live ammunition.
Surve was finished after systematic police operations led to a breakdown of his gang's activities. After the arrest of his cohort Uday Shetty, he was the only remaining member of the gang who was not in prison.
Encounter
On 11 January 1982, Bombay police received a tip off from one of its informers that Manya Surve would be arriving at a beauty parlour near the Ambedkar College junction in Wadala. At around 1.30 pm, eighteen Crime Branch officers split into three crack teams and waited for him to arrive. After twenty minutes, Surve was spotted coming out a taxi to pick up his girlfriend, a widow with two children.After noticing the squad close in and take positions, Surve took out his Webley and Scott
Webley and Scott
Webley & Scott is an arms manufacturer based in Birmingham, England. Webley produced handguns and long guns from 1834 to 1979, when the company ceased to manufacture firearms and instead focused on producing air pistols and air rifles...
revolver. However, before he could squeeze the trigger, Surve was mortally wounded by two police officers Raja Tambat and Isaque Bagwan, who fired five bullets into his chest and shoulder.
Surve was dragged from the scene and put on an ambulance. While on the way to KEM Hospital, he kept screaming that the police had not given him a fair chance to defend himself. He succumbed to his injuries a few minutes later. This encounter was the end of Surve's two year spree of urban dacoity and crime. It is generally believed that it was the underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar
Varadarajan Mudaliar
Varadarajan Muniswami Mudaliar, also known as Vardhabhai was a Tamil from Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, who rose to be a mafia don in Mumbai, India. Most active in the 1970s, he was the link in the underworld history between old time mafia men such as Haji Mastan.Varadarajan started as a porter in...
who tipped off the police about his whereabouts, after finding his position being challenged by Surve.
In popular culture
The life of Manya Surve inspired and provided the basis for the 1990 BollywoodBollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
blockbuster movie, Agneepath
Agneepath
Agneepath is a 1990 Bollywood film directed by Mukul Anand. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Madhavi, and Rohini Hattangadi, with Danny Dengzongpa as the villain. It was produced by Yash Johar...
. The movie's main character, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan (played by Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
) was heavily based on Surve, with Bachchan even copying the gangster's voice. The film was not a great hit at the box office but earned Amitabh Bachchan a National Award for Best Actor
National Film Awards
The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel...
.