Mumbai: Inspiration comes easy to gangsters when there is a Bollywood hit involved, as was exemplified when cops arrested three persons in a robbery that occurred last month, and one of the accused borrowed for himself a name popularised by the silver screen.
The youngest of those arrested, Santosh Gupta (18), apparently likes to call himself Chhota Maya Dolas, after the D-gang mobster whose life and violent end was the subject of the flick Shootout at Lokhandwala. Why? "Because I look like him," Gupta reportedly told the cops.
The Crime Branch on Monday arrested Gupta, Alauddin Sarfuddin (22) and Harishwar Amte (25) for the robbery that took place in a Santacruz firm on June 30 (see box). Police are on the lookout for a fourth accused, an insider who played an active role in the crime.
According to Senior Inspector Sanjay Satardekar (Unit 9), Gupta was traced through his mobile. Before arresting him, cops called him up incognito, only to be left bemused with his answer, "Hello, I am Chhota Maya Dolas."
After being arrested, Gupta told officers that he looks like Maya, so he calls himself Chhota Maya. During the interrogation, Gupta revealed that he dropped out of school after Standard VIII, after scoring 79 per cent.
According to Satardekar, Gupta was a bright student and wanted to be a cop. But he fell in the wrong company. His friends, all petty offenders, egged him on into the seedy world of crime. They were the ones, incidentally, who made him see Shootout. That completely turned Gupta's future around for the worse, cops said. He became passionate about being a gangster and started breaking the law in several areas of the city.
"Three mobile phones and Rs.1.41 lakh cash were recovered from the accused. After the arrest of Gupta and Sarfuddin from UP that the police arrested Amte, the manager of the company where the accused committed the crime," said Satardekar (Unit 9).
Cops also said that Amte had provided the details of the firm that was robbed and also helped Gupta and Sarfuddin conduct a recce before robbing it. The three accused were arrested by the Santacruz police station and were remanded to police custody till July 21.
The trio has been booked under Sections 392 (Punishment for robbery), 397 (Robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt), 352 (House-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 342 (Punishment for wrongful confinement) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC as well as Sections 3 and 25 of the Arms Act.
The robbery
On June 30, three people barged into the office of Affable Fisheries Pvt. Ltd situated in Khira Nagar, Santacruz (W) and made off with four mobile phones and Rs10 lakh in cash. Among the three arrested, Gupta is a resident of Kalwa, Sarfuddin is from Vashi and Amte stays in Santacruz.
Who is Maya Dolas?
Born Mahindra Dolas, he was an underworld gangster who used to work for the D-Company don, Dawood Ibrahim. He was killed in an encounter at the 1991 Lokhandwala Complex shootout at the age of 25. Dolas' story was made into the 2007 movie Shootout at Lokhandwala, with Vivek Oberoi playing the role of Maya.
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