Maharashtra Guv worried over Mumbai's law and order situation

| 28 October 1997 22:17 IST

The worsening law and order situation in Mumbai has given a bad image to the country's major cosmopolitan city all over the world, admits Maharashtra governor Dr p c Alexander, but hopes the situation would improve.

He also admits that increasing number of encounter killings of gangsters belonging to all gangs from Dubai-based Dawood Ibrahim to criminal-turned politician Arun Gawali is not the solution to it.

"I do not believe in fake encounter killings. Simply killing without any provocation has to be condemned", he claims, but seems reluctant to call encounter killings in Mumbai as fake.

Though he also admits that such encounter killings are on rise after Ronnie Mendonca has taken over as the police commissioner, he has also expressed total confidence in the way Mendonca is controlling the situation.

It's a manifestation of operation of gangsters which has resulted into gangwars and targeting people in the film industry and the builders, said Dr Alexander, who was in Goa, the tourist state where he is holding the additional charge as the governor.

With liberalisation ending the smuggling of gold, silver and electronic items, polarisation of these gangs is taking place on the one hand and new culture of smuggling narcotics and "supari killings" is emerging on the other hand, he explains.

Though it has spread terror in the film industry as well as the real estate business, he also points out that most of the victims in the film industry and the builders are themselves involved in it and are getting killed from their rivals.

While naming four major gangsters operating in Mumbai, he prefers to call Arun Galway a political leader rather than a gangster. But he is not prepared to call killing Gawli's men including his party secretary as political killings. "the police says they are killed by the rival gangs", he adds.

The complaints have come that such killings have political patronage and motive behind it, states the governor, but prefers not to comment on it before finding out the truth.

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