Don: Varda Bhai- Part - II

Channel: Zee News Programme: Don

Telecast: Friday- 9:30 pm Repeat telecast: Saturday- 9:30 am, 3:30 pm, 10:30 pm, Sunday-11:00 amA don, who delved into illegal liquor, gambling and flesh trading, ruled the Mumbai underworld. Varda Bhai would stand no voices against him and suppress anything and anyone that proved an obstacle in his way. In early days, S. Francis Robero was newly appointed as the Commissioner of Mumbai Police. He was well aware of numerous stories doing the rounds involving Varda. He began laying a trap for Varda. A.C.P. Y.C Pawar had recently joined the Madanga police station and was also well aware of Varda and his misdeeds. Like Robero, Pawar was also infuriated by police’s cordial behaviour towards Varda. Inspector P. George of Madanga police station was a tough cop. He too was displeased at Varda’s misconduct. George had full support of his boss, Pawar. Varda witnessed a change in the police’s amicable attitude towards him. The friendship between police and Varda ceased and began a new chapter of animosity. Varda and his gangmen would often face Pawar and George in areas like Dharavi and Madanga. It wasn’t even a month since Pawar assumed office and he started targeting Varda and his aides. Khwaja, an aide of Varda, was roughed up publicly in Khwaja Creek, which incidentally is named after him, by Pawar’s orders. This flagged off a series of encounters between Varda and Pawar. Pawar regularly started humiliating Varda’s men publicly. Inspite of this, Varda was more or less unresponsive. After enjoying a long stay in the good books of the police department he now realized that to mess up with police would mean inviting gruesome trouble. Pawar and George, both the cops knew that mere harassment of Varda and his aides will not lead to the accomplishment of their mission. A strict watch over the bhai’s activities was in order. Varda’s illegal liquor shops topped their hit list. Varda’s men would pack desi liquor into rubber balloons and then smuggle it from one place to another. Y C Pawar recalls how that day, when he went to raid one of such ‘adda’. Along with his team Pawar had a showdown with Varda’s men for almost 45 minutes on Mumbai roads, he recalled. Varda’s smuggling techniques were yet undetected by Pawar. Rather his smuggling techniques were quite ingenious, influenced by his father who used to fit railway lines. Far from the eyes of police and other smugglers, Varda’s business bloomed overwhelmingly but only for a few days until Pawar came to know about it. However, to crack this new hideout was a task involving high risk for the police. Varda had invented a smarter and trickier way of smuggling. ACP Pawar figured at the top in Varda’s list of enemies. He planned a trap for Pawar. He asked Pawar to meet him at a private place. When an Inspector went to meet Varda to finalize the place, he recorded his talk with the Inspector. Further, he leaked the tape to the press and began spreading rumours that Pawar wanted to meet him for striking a compromise. Varda did not want to encounter Pawar head on so he started blackmailing him. In another of his moves, he sought help from his close aide Alok Kriplani Khera to trap Pawar. Khera alias Bablu threw a party at Palm Groove Hotel. Rebero and Pawar’s men too were a part of this party. Varda mischievously recorded the party on camera. The tapes came out in the press and garnered huge hype. This act of blackmailing could not deter Pawar and George’s aspirations so Varda prepared himself for a direct attack on his topmost enemies. The heightened vigilance by police forced Varda to move to a new hideout every night. Bala, Varda’s his closest aide, was instrumental in aiding him 24x7. Varda’s scheming moves against the police department continued and he started trapping them in false cases ranging from petty issues to charges of rape. On the other hand Pawar and George were busy planning a strategy. J.C. Khairnaar, a new police official joined the camp of Pawar and George. Khairnaar was the ward officer of Mumbai Municipal Corporation. He got hold of news that Varda, in order to occupy land in Shivaji Park area, had constructed religious places. Khairnaar got those constructions demolished. Varda reacted strongly to this and challenged to punish him soon. This concluded with Khairnaar’s transfer order the very next day. But the transfer was stopped due to pressure from public. No matter how troubled Varda was with these police officials, he reigned supreme in his area. White clothes, Kohlapuri chappal and 555 brand cigarettes became the signature style of Varda Bhai. He enjoyed tremendous public support on the streets of Dharawi. In the battle between underworld and police, a new face soon emerged- Dawood Ibrahim. Dawood gave a jolt to Varda by breaking his gang and including his important aide in his own gang. Who was this important aide who later became the backbone of D Company? Look out for the next episode.