Communal clash lays bare real problem of drug peddlers in Dindoshi

When HT visited the area on Tuesday, residents said the escalation had fortuitously helped confront the nuisance of alleged drug peddling by a family, which they had been unable to fight. Addicts, they said, would line up in front of their locked grilled gates to allegedly buy drugs through the day and night

MUMBAI: For residents of Santosh Nagar at Dindoshi in Goregaon East, the arrest of 10 members of a family on Sunday, following an altercation between members of two communities, has come as a relief for both communities alike. Tensions had flared up when a few persons objected to a song played by the DJ in a religious procession, and violence escalated after the accused family allegedly brought out swords and attacked members of the procession.

BMC workers on Monday demolished an alleged illegal structure linked to the accused. (Bachchan Kumar/HT PHOTO)

When HT visited the area on Tuesday, residents said the escalation had fortuitously helped confront the nuisance of alleged drug peddling by a family, which they had been unable to fight. Addicts, they said, would line up in front of their locked grilled gates to allegedly buy drugs through the day and night. “It was like a ration line for drugs at times,” claimed Chandni Ansari, a neighbour. “While the addicts never hurt or attacked the locals, their regular presence in the locality made women feel unsafe.”

The accused family, 10 of whom are now under arrest, were known to be aggressive, picking up fights and using abusive language on the slightest pretext. Residents said that they were scared to stand up to them, and hence the arrests were a huge relief. However, they added, they were worried about their safety once the family members, who are history sheeters and prison regulars, were released. “Getting arrested will not deter them,” said a resident.

At the heart of the residents’ problem is a brother-sister duo, Ajju and Shabbo, both of whom allegedly sold drugs from their homes. “Although they have been living in the locality for over three decades, they got into the drug business in 2014, prospered from it and kept expanding it to buy multiple homes in the neighbourhood,” said Ansari. “They hired boys to handle their business, and their growing prosperity only added to their nuisance value.”

Residents said that Ajju started off with a scrap business but got into bad company and subsequently into the drugs business. He has been in and out of jail over the years. His sister Shabbo too got attracted by the money, and both openly conducted their business from their homes, without any fear, said residents.

As things escalated on Sunday evening, locals said that it was not just the religious issue but the nuisance caused by the drug peddlers that lay at the heart of it. “The fact that no one else from their community has come to their support proves how bad this particular family is,” said a local.

The entry of multiple political parties into the fracas has helped the locals who were unable to fight the nuisance at their level.

The Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Nirupam, who visited the locality on Tuesday afternoon, led a delegation of women to the Dindoshi police station demanding that the police invoke MCOCA against the accused. “The bulldozer action on Monday, where illegal structures linked to the accused were demolished, is a mere eyewash,” he said. “We demand action against the multi-storied illegal house. The ladies in the area continue to feel threatened.” Nirupam also demanded the suspension of two policemen for lathi-charging one set of people.

Sanjay Avhad, the BJP’s deputy district chief of its north-west unit, also demanded that Ajju’s multi-storied house be demolished. “Besides the house being illegal, it also bears an illegal mobile tower and CCTV network around it,” he said. “The BMC team told us that it could not be demolished without serving the occupants a notice. If it fails to act within 48 hours, we shall act against the structure ourselves.”

The Dindoshi police officers said that on Tuesday there were no law-and-order problems in Santosh Nagar. “Munir Sayyed alias Ajju, who has been arrested for assaulting a few people on Sunday, has a record of drug-peddling and has been arrested in the past,” said a police officer. “Sanjay Nirupam came here with a delegation of women, and we have assured them that we will maintain peace in the area.”