Mumbai, May 05: Gamdevi in South Mumbai is the birthplace of the resistance against the Great Indian Men’s Underwear show. Of late, the police in the area say, the elderly morning walkers have had to avert their eyes from a hoarding along their way at Kemp’s Corner. It shows a hunk, four storeys high, strutting his stuff in a very brief pair of VIP briefs. ‘‘The elderly citizens would call us up and complain. They would ask us: why don’t you do something?’’’ says a moustachioed Police Inspector Dilip Dhane (44). The number of complaints filed in the Gamdevi police station: Zero. That wasn’t a problem for his boss Deputy Commissioner of Police Naval Bajaj: ‘‘Since it was affecting a large part of the society, we had to take suo moto cognisance of the poster.’’ So Dhane, a friendly, affable guy, became the main complainant in the case that has led to the Rs 300-crore Maxwell Industries, makers of the VIP Frenchie brand of underwear, pull down their hoardings. And a shudder has run through the owners of other men’s underwear brands which dominate Mumbai’s landscape. Arrests in the case have not been ruled out. Police stations have been asked to take cognisance of ‘‘vulgar’’ posters, which can also serve as evidence. One evening, Dhane has just returned from ‘‘investigation’’ into the matter. ‘‘It’s a very technical case,’’ he says with a straight face. ‘‘I have to be very careful. It’s not a case where there is a witness and a crime.’’ Meanwhile, underwear manufacturers and admen are mildly angry, sulking, yet acquiescing. ‘‘We have voluntarily decided to remove 8-10 hoardings,’’ says Anthony Fernandes, head of marketing at Maxwell. ‘‘But tell me, if I do not show underwear in an underwear ad, then what do I show?’’ he asks, tongue-in-cheek. ‘‘It’s not like I’ve put a nude man on a hoarding; our ad isn’t more graphic than many other hoardings and posters we’ve seen in the past,’’ says Piyush Pandey of O&M. Pandey wishes that DCP Bajaj and his men had consulted him. ‘‘We might have been able to change a few things,’’ he says.