Detection Unit consisted of several high-profile officers of

Mumbai Police The Mumbai Police (Marathi: मुंबई पोलीस, IAST: ''Mumbaī Pulīs'', formerly ''Bombay Police'') is the police department of the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of Maharashtra Police and has the primary responsibiliti ...

. The squad primarily dealt with members of the

Mumbai underworld Organised crime in India refers to organised crime elements originating in India and active in many parts of the world. The purpose of organised crime in India, as elsewhere in the world, is monetary gain. Its virulent form in modern times is d ...

and other criminal gangs.

Gang wars in Mumbai

The Unit came to be known as the "Encounter Squad" because of its involvement in the

encounter killings Encounter killing is a term used in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka since the late 20th century to describe extrajudicial killings by the police or the armed forces, supposedly in self-defence, when they encounter suspected gangsters or ...

. It came into prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, when they started dealing with

Dawood Ibrahim Dawood Ibrahim (; born 26 December 1955) is an Indian mafia gangster, drug kingpin, and wanted terrorist from Dongri, Mumbai. He reportedly heads the Indian organised crime syndicate D-Company, which he founded in Mumbai in the 1970s. Ibrahim ...

D-Company D-Company is a name coined by the Indian media for the Bombay underworld organized criminal syndicate founded and controlled by Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian mafia boss, drug dealer and wanted terrorist. In 2011, Ibrahim, along with his D-Comp ...

gang, the Arun Gawali gang and the Amar Naik gang. The 'encounter’, was a euphemism for a situation in which a gangster was cornered, asked to surrender, ostensibly attacked the police or tried to escape, and was shot dead in retaliatory action. As the encounters increased, so did the popularity of the "encounter specialist."

Daya Nayak Daya Nayak is an Indian police assistant inspector with the Mumbai police. He joined Mumbai police - then known as Bombay - in 1995, and rose to fame as an encounter-specialist in the late 1990s. As a member of the Detection Unit, he gunned dow ...

Valentine D'Souza A valentine is a card or gift given on Valentine's Day, or one's sweetheart. Valentine or Valentines may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Valentine (name), a given name and a surname, including a list of people and fictional cha ...

Pradeep Sharma Pradeep Sharma (born 1961) is a former officer in the police force of Mumbai, India. Sharma attained notability as an "encounter specialist" with the Mumbai Encounter Squad and was involved with the deaths of as many as 312 criminals. On 31 ...

, Ravindranath Angre, Praful Bhosale, Raju Pillai,

Vijay Salaskar Vijay Salaskar, AC (24 February 1957 – 26 November 2008) was an Indian police inspector and encounter specialist with the Mumbai police. He was widely credited with killing 75–80 criminals in encounters – most of these were members of th ...

, Shivaji Kolekar,

Sachin Vaze Sachin Hindurao Vaze () (born 22 February 1972) is a former Indian police officer who served as an Assistant Police Inspector in Mumbai Police (under the Maharashtra Police). He was dismissed from service by Mumbai Police Commissioner under ...

and Sanjay Kadam became cult figures, mythologised by the media.Final Encounter
/ref> The first encounter occurred on 11 January 1982 when gangster

Manya Surve Manohar Arjun Surve (8 August 1944 – 11 January 1982), popularly known as Manya Surve, was an Indian Underworld Don in Bombay. He was one of the educated gangsters who graduated from college and very well known for challenging and d ...

was shot dead by police officers Raja Tambat and Isaque Bagwan at the

Wadala Wadala (also spelled Vadala, formerly spelt Wuddala, �əɖaːɭa is a locality in Mumbai. Wadala Road is a station on the Harbour Line of Mumbai's railway network. Overview Wadala has several schools and some renowned institutions like ...

area. The famous killing of

Maya Dolas Maya Dolas (born Mahindra Dolas; 15 October 1966 — 16 November 1991) was an Indian 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 by the then ...

in the 1991 Lokhandwala Complex shootout bought focus on this unit for first time. More than 400 criminals from different gangs were killed by this squad. Since the cracking of the 1993 Mumbai Bomb blasts case, the squad played an instrumental role in controlling the

Chota Rajan Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje (born 13 January 1959), popularly known by his moniker Chhota Rajan, is an Indian gangster who served as the boss of a major crime syndicate based in Mumbai. While living in Tilak Nagar, a big colony for the low-inco ...

Ashwin Naik Ashvin or Ashwin or Ashwan (; bn, আশ্বিন; hi, आश्विन; or, ଆଶ୍ୱିନ; Malay/Indonesian: ''Aswin''; Thai: ''Asawin''), also known as Aswayuja, is the seventh month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, the solar T ...

Ravi Pujari Ravi Pujari is an Indian gangster who is involved in various murders and threats to Indian celebrities and businessmen. In January 2019, he was arrested in Dakar, Senegal. He is also noted for his philanthropy work in Western Africa. Career Rav ...

, Ejaz Lakdawala,

Ali Budesh Ali Baba Budesh (born 1957-14th April 2022)
- 29 October 2009, Mid Day w ...

, and

Arun Gawli Arun Gulab Gawli (born 17 July 1955) also known as Arun Gulab Ahir, is an Indian politician, underworld don and retired gangster. Gawli and his brother Kishor (Pappa) entered the Mumbai underworld in the 1970s, when they joined the "Byculla C ...

gangs in Mumbai. Retrieved on 9 June 2007 Retrieved on 9 June 2007 Retrieved on 9 June 2007 The squad was dissolved after rival dons

Dawood romanized: Dāwīḏ syr, ܕܘܝܕ, Dawīd Koine el, Δαυίδ, Dauíd , image = Prophet Dawood Name.svg , image size = 150px , caption = David's name in Islamic calligraphy , birth_date = 10th cent ...

and

fled India, but revived after the

11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings The 2006 Mumbai train bombings were a series of seven bomb blasts on 11 July. They took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai, the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the nation's financial capi ...

. Then after 2006 some mysterious hit groups led by an unknown youth from south India ruled with local, national as well as international support continued until the end of 2009. Then they just vanished even as per the police records."Mumbai’s ‘Dirty Harrys’ are back in action"
The end of the squad came with the departure of Vaze and Nayak from service, and death of

, Retrieved on 31 October 2007 killed in a gun battle at Rangbhavan Lane during Mumbai 26/11 Terrorist attack.

Portrayals in popular culture

* ''

Ab Tak Chhappan ''Ab Tak Chhappan'' () is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Shimit Amin. It was written by Sandeep Shrivastava and produced by Ram Gopal Varma. It starred Nana Patekar in the lead role. It also starred Revathi, Yashpal Shar ...

'' —

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, film maker, and a former Indian Territorial Army officer, mainly working in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He is regarded as one of the finest an ...

playing role of Sadhu Agashe based on

* '' Company'' —

Vivek Oberoi Vivek Anand Oberoi (born 3 September 1976) is an Indian actor who mainly works in Hindi cinema, in addition to working in few Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Tamil films. Early life Vivek Oberoi was born in Hyderabad, Telangana, to a Punjab ...

playing

Chhota Rajan Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje (born 13 January 1959), popularly known by his moniker Chhota Rajan, is an Indian gangster who served as the boss of a major crime syndicate based in Mumbai. While living in Tilak Nagar, a big colony for the low-inco ...

, Mohanlal playing Encounter Squad Chief * ''

Shootout at Wadala ''Shootout at Wadala'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language biographical-gangster-crime film written and directed by Sanjay Gupta. It is a prequel to the 2007 film ''Shootout at Lokhandwala''. It is loosely based on the book '' Dongri to Dubai: Six ...

'' —

John Abraham John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor, film producer, writer and former model working in Hindi films. He has won a National Film Award and received five Filmfare nominations. After modelling for advertisements and companies ...

playing

, movie on Manya's Encounter, * ''

Shootout at Lokhandwala ''Shootout at Lokhandwala'' is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and co-written by Apoorva Lakhia and co-written and co-produced by Sanjay Gupta, with Ekta Kapoor serving as producer and Suresh Nair serving as write ...

'' — Vivek Oberoi playing

, film based on Maya's Encounter, * '' Aan: Men at Work'' — Character based on real-life inspectors * ''

Sarfarosh ''Sarfarosh'' () is a 1999 Indian action drama film written, produced and directed by John Matthew Matthan and starring Aamir Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Sonali Bendre and Mukesh Rishi. John started working on ''Sarfarosh'' in 1992. Seven years ...

'' — Fictional story based upon the Indian underworld. * '' Encounter: The Killing'' - It stars

Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare ...

, Dilip Prabhavalkar and Tara Deshpande in pivotal roles. * '' Garv'' — Brothers Salman and Arbaaz Khan play roles of inspectors of Encounter squad * '' Golimaar'' - Gangaram (Gopichand) is an orphan who dreams of becoming a police officer from childhood * '' Department'' - At least one further film is planned."BIG B TO STAR IN RGV'S COP FILM - HINDUSTAN TIMES"
* '' Rege'' - A Marathi film featuring two characters inspired and named after Pradeep Sharma and Sachin Vaze.

References

{{reflist

External links

Urban Cowboys
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Bombay's crack 'encounter' police
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India can't keep a good don down
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Encounter man Pradip Sharma completes 'century'

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Encounter specialists are back in action
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Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printer ...

Rajan gangster shot dead
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The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

Mumbai Police Government of Mumbai Organised crime in India 1997 establishments in Maharashtra Encounters in India