While the police are still on the lookout of the shooter who pulled the trigger to shoot dead 35-year-old Shams Tabrez Ansari alias Sonu in Mira Road on the night of 3, December, the incident has yet again put the spotlight on the presence of an organised crime syndicate involved in collecting “ Hafta” ( protection money) from illegally operating hawkers in the twin-city.
Less than 24 hours after the murder which took place in one of the passages in the Shanti Shopping Centre in Mira Road, the crime branch unit (Zone I) arrested two brothers- Yusuf Ali Mansoor Ali Alam (34) and Saif Ali Mansoor Ali Khan (22) for ordering the hit. According to highly placed sources in the police department, Sonu and Yusuf were friends who turned foe after a complaint was registered against Yusuf for outraging the modesty of a woman who is said to be the wife of Sonu’s friend. Yusuf who collected “hafta” from hawkers in the premises of the railway station was at loggerheads with Sonu- a hawker who sold eyewear outside the railway station.
However, the enmity turned deadly following a fierce competition between them in the thriving hawking and collection business outside the railway station, skywalk, foot and rail over bridge. Apart from Rs.89 charged as fees by the contractor hired by the civic authorities, each hawker has to cough out anywhere between Rs.5,000 to Rs.10,000 to conduct his vending business on public spaces." The expenses to fight a legal battle (outraging modesty case) and losses incurred due to the competition left Yusuf financially broken. Unable to see his plight, Saif and the shooter (name withheld) decided to eliminate Sonu.” said a police officer who is privy to the investigations.
As per the initial plan Yusuf was supposed to pull the trigger, however his accomplices decided otherwise to ensure that he remained outside and help them provide legal assistance. Notably, judicial orders banning hawking on foot/rail over bridges and within 150 metres of railway stations are brazenly violated by the hawkers who have encroached upon public spaces leaving commuters jostling for walking space on the virtue of “haftas” collected by an organised syndicate who allegedly share the spoils with civic personnel and local political leaders in exchange of extending support in preventing eviction drives or safely return the confiscated wares in case of once in a blue moon action.
8,728 Registered Hawkers.
As per official statistics as many as 8,728 hawkers have been officially enlisted by the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) under the Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act, which provides protection of livelihoods rights, social security of street vendors and for regulation of urban street vending in the country. However, the actual numbers are higher owing to the presence of thousands of illegal hawkers operating in the twin-city.
