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Birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi turns into Mafia den
PORBANDAR. India. Aug 8: Porbandar was once known as the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. Today. 50 years into Indian independence, it is in-famous for the criminal gangs which haVe tutnfed it info's ■virtual Mafia den; reports AFP.
Criminal syndicates in this western coastal port town of some 150.000 people trade illegally in liquour. smuggle arms and run gambling and protecting rackets.
Police and residents allege the gangs also dominate local road transport businesses and monopolise the construction of roads and government buildings.
"This place has become a wild west." says Narendra Kumar Atri. a focal Hindu nationalist leader who also runs a philanthropic organisation. Justice for All Society.
"It is becoming another Bombay." he said. "Because it's a smaller town. It will turn out to be worse than Bombay."
Bhagu Bhai Devani. 54, president of the Porbandar Cham-
ber of Commerce, agrees.
The town which gave India Mahatma Gandhi, whose creed of non-violence ended British colonial rule in 1947, is. Today.,
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"The entire transport business is run by the Mafia. Trucks will not carry your goods unless they get the green signal from the Mafia.
"It is insulting to even talk about it." -
Devani, who is also an advocate. survived an assassination attempt in 1992 for protesting against the Illegal safe of liquor near Gandhi's family home-cum-museum.
Gandhi, a champion of nonviolence and who led India's struggle for independence, was born nere on October 2, 1869, and spent his early years in the town.
He was a bitter critic of alcohol and tobacco. Gujarat state, where Porbandar is focated, has banned the sale, manufacture and consumption of liquor.
In 1991, a group of disgusted citizens put up a huge board at the entrance to Porbandar which mockingly read: "India's Jaw and order ,m^chtn«y, ends
crime gangs arefactive>in the town.
"Over the years, organised crime developed here with the connivance of police and politicians as well as other vested interests." said Sanjiv Bhat. Porbandar’s police chief.
But he argues: "In the last three years most gangs have been on the run. There is no major organised crime in the true sense of the term today.
"The Mafia has instead shifted into economic offences... they have monopolised the dock work. Earlier, killings took place in the open."
Bhat concedes that the gangs still indulge in large-scale smuggling of gold, silver and weapons, as well as shipping out large quanUUes of Indian currency to the Middle East. .