Say boo!

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Small-time criminals play the extortion game using the scare tactics of the biggies of gangstaland</span><br /><br />"<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bhai bol raha hoon Malaysia se. Jaldi se pachas peti tayar rakhna warna goli dal doonga</span>" (This is <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">bhai</span> from Malaysia. Keep Rs 50 lakh ready else I will get you shot). Words like these take no time to create panic among businessmen, bar owners or others who become targets of the underworld. But now they needn''t press the panic button with such calls as the caller may not be a <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">bhai</span> from a notorious underworld gang. Instead, he''s most likely to be a <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">tapori</span> working for small- time criminals.<br /><br />The Mumbai police have found that most of the recent threatening calls made to bar owners or other businessmen recently are from small-time gangsters. They''ve used the <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">modus operandi</span> of the big gangs, by using foreign SIM cards to make their threatening calls. They use these cards to give the impression that they''re calling from places like Malaysia, Bangkok, Switzerland, while in reality, they could well be operating from the next <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">gully!</span><br /><br />Says senior inspector of Bandra Crime Branch Unit Vijay Salaskar, "They buy international sim cards and make calls from here in an attempt to put pressure on their targets." A senior police officer adds, "There are many gangsters like Hemant Pujari (who was said to be with Chhota Rajan) who have split from their parent gangs and operate as small timers." Also, with the big gangs inactive because of the heavy police crackdown on their men in Mumbai, the small- timers are trying to make a fast buck, say cops. <br /><br />These criminals also target bar owners in the area to make a quick buck. "The gangsters make extortion calls to the bars in their area rapidly, one after the other. Invariably, a couple succumb to the pressure and pay up the money easily," says an officer. Cops say that apart from Hemant Pujari, the others who are trying to establish themselves as independent gangsters are Ravi Pujari, Eijaz Lakdawala and Guru Satam.</div> </div>