Bookies, ‘wasooli gang’ fast spreading tentacles in north Nagpur

Nagpur: Chinese food joint owner Madan Agrawal’s spine-chilling murder of his children and wife before ending own life in Jaripatka has exposed a nexus between cricket bookies, goons acting as their recovery agents and gangsters operating the money-lending business in north Nagpur, which has turned into a hub of such activities.
With police now hunting for the link of bookie-goon rackets in the latest crime, the city’s underworld is set to face the heat.Sources said cops are going through the call records of Agrawal to track down his connections among bookies and gangsters, so as to collect information about the suspected criminals whose relentless threats may have prompted him to take the extreme step.
North Nagpur has active ‘Sardar gangs’ with gangsters like Goldie, Manjeet, Bhullar, Wades and so on, who are known for their brutal ways of recovery including wrenching vehicles, valuables and issuing threats of kidnapping children and raping spouses of the debtors who cannot settle the money-lenders’ or bookies’ huge debts with exorbitant interests.
An insider said, “No one would ever lodge a complaint against these gangsters as after bail, they would not let the complainant live.”
It’s learnt that the gangsters barge into houses and thrash their targets in the presence of families, or visit their workplaces or businesses to harass them.
Though Agrawal left no suicide note indicting someone or narrating any plight, sources close to him confided in the police about his engaging in cricket betting, gambling and losing substantial amount to the bookies and racketeers. His losses had led to debts to the tune of Rs70-80 lakh, its learnt. Police said his family members had not lodged a complaint or named anyone so far either.
According to an insider, Agrawal was either targeted by a moneylender identified as Prashant or by gangster Arif, who had jumped to notoriety as a don in north Nagpur after his daylight murder of a goon at Jaripatka Market a few years back.
Arif, working as recovery agent, is learnt to have doubled up as a money-lender. Sources in the Jaripatka police said Arif had visited Agrawal too in the past. He is known to be close to top Jaripatka bookies like Pankaj Kadi, Raunak, Rani Pan, Bunty Juice, Pawan Lalwani and others who also have close contacts with the lower-rung cops.
City police chief Amitesh Kumar said there have been leads about the nexus between bookies and goons, which are being verified. “Some anti-social elements from our records have been rounded up for questioning but nothing concrete has come forth in relation to the latest crime (Agrawal’s murders and suicide) or in general,” he said.