The Making of a Gangster | EXTRACT

The Gangster, Before He Went on the Run | EXTRACT

Today, Rahul Jadhav is an ultra-marathoner – who has covered over 3000 kilometres, including a 2019 run from the Gateway of India to India Gate – and aims to breaks the national stadium run record. But where did he stand two decades ago?

Jadhav took the name ‘Bhiku’ after a character from the 1998 cult classic Satya – a gangster who was everything Rahul once wanted to be. He captured his don’s attention after gaining notoriety as a tech-literate criminal, and eventually became one of the most wanted gangsters of his time. Read this extract from Gangster on the Run to learn a little about Bhiku, before he transformed himself and turned his life around:

Spurred with his success, Rahul decided to cash in on the chaos. He started readying a gang of shooters who could orchestrate firings in his don’s name and maintain his glory on news headlines. Over the years, Rahul had made notes about many boys like Machmach and Kaalya, who could make for reliable extortionists with some guidance. The boys already revered Rahul. He would buy them alcohol worth thousands of rupees every night and sponsor their dates with bar dancers. Now, he had grown to be Reddy’s top lieutenant in Dombivli. He was responsible for the bandh in their city, a senior cop’s transfer, and for alarming every authority, every rich man in the district.

Apart from Machmach and Kaalya, Rahul had identified eight potential recruits. One evening in November 2006, he invited them to a friend’s apartment. The men, all aged twenty-four to twentyeight, occupied three sofas in the nondescript flat as Rahul took centre stage. A table stood between him and his audience, holding hard-liquor bottles, glasses, iceboxes, mixers, stirrers and fried snacks.

‘There’s a reason why you’re here,’ Rahul addressed the group. ‘The underworld is in desperate need of daring men, men with some real courage. You, my friends, have balls, and I’m here to rent them out.