Top cops who fought Mumbai’s underworld chronicle its history

A recent slew of books by retired top cops goes beyond the myth-making, revealing insights into the terrifying decades of the underworld’s hold over Mumbai

One day, towards the end of the 1990s, the phone rang in the office of the newspaper I then worked at. The caller spoke gruffly, but not roughly, to complain about a story on Dawood Ibrahim the paper had run. It was one of those reader complaints to which there was no real response, for the man speaking at the end of the landline said he was Chhota Rajan.

Top cops who fought Mumbai’s underworld chronicle its history

At the time of this call to the newspaper, Chhota Rajan