Lamba, Pav Takla make name for themselves

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: They may be a fearsome and bloodthirsty lot, but Mumbai’s gun-toting gangsters are defined by such unusual names that one can’t help but crack a smile. And the nicknames are back in circulation after Iqbal Kaskar’s bodyguard Arif Bael was killed on May 17.

Police officers say gangsters’ names are derived from memorable incidents, habits, place of birth, and personality and physical traits. Even Dawood Ibrahim has not been spared. His nickname Muchchad is a nod to luxurious moustache. Chhota Shakeel has wreaked his brand of havoc in Mumbai, but it’s doubtful whether his nickname—Pav takla—would inspire the same level of dread. He’s bald from the front. But only his inner cirlce of friends are allowed to call him Pav takla.

There was a time in his life when London-based Iqbal Memon (alias Iqbal Mirchi) would sell delicious kheema and spicy meat in south
Mumbai. Later, he opened a grocery shop started dealing in red chillies

Even the police are responsible for some of the unusual names. “For instance, Rafique Dabba would de liver homemade food to prisoners and so we called him Rafique Dabba,” said an officer, adding that the names actually help them remember who’s who in the underworld.

They say that rechristening gang members is the most practical solution in an ‘industry’ where more than one person shares the same name. There was a Shakeel from Dongri. The gang already had a Chhota Shakeel, and so he was simply called Shakeel Lambu because he was tall. Lambu was in charge of handling the D-company’s finances in Mumbai.

It’s a misconception that D-gang member Saleem Shaikh was named Salim kutta because of his “growling voice”. Members of the underworld said that Salim hailed from Kuttanelur in Thrissur district of Kerala, and was therefore called Kutta. Two other Salims of the Mumbai underworld, Salim Mazgaon and Salim Kurla, lived in Mazgaon and Kurla. Saleem Khan, an accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts was a passport agent, and was duly called Saleem Passport.

Abu Salem gang member Salim Haddi’s prominent Adam’s apple, earned him the name haddi (bone in Hindi). He was killed in an encounter.

As a school student, the man behind the 1993 serial bomb blasts, Ibrahim Memon had been injured in a cricket match. “But he helped the school win. He played his inning like a Tiger and was called Tiger Memon,” said a police officer.


The Times of India, May 21, 2011