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Abdul Razzak- How a milk vendor became the most dreaded Don of Jabalpur

Abdul Razzak was notorious for land grabbing and extortion racket. He was allegedly used by politicians from major parties to bump off their opponents.

The empire of fear set up by dreaded gangster Abdul Razzak looks just like a potboiler Bollywood flick. 62 years ago Abdul Razzak’s family had migrated from Narsinghpur to Jabalpur after selling off their ancestral property. Razzak’s grandfather started a dairy farm near Ghor River. Business was good and the families who had by then build a big haveli in Naya Mohalla.

Abdul Razzak studied only till eight standard in one of the prestigious schools in Jabalpur- Christ Church Boys H.S.School. He had to leave his studies to help his father get on with the dairy business. He also purchased a 40 acre land in Barela, which was a small village adjacent to Jabalpur city.

In 1990 he obtained contracts for operating toll tax barriers around the city of Jabalpur. His tryst with crime started from then on and turned Abdul Razzak into a don who never took no for an answer. On the ground, Abdul Razzak was seen by the poor and the minority community as a saviour. However looking at his police records he seems a dreaded criminal with over 65 cases including murder, attempted murder, extortion and land grabbing in his name.

After a successful stint in the dairy business, Abdul Razzak started a new chapter in 1990 when he entered into the business of Toll Tax auctions. He joined hands with Prakash Khaparia, Lakhan Ghangoriya ( Present MLA and a former minister under the Kamal Nath Government of Congress(I) ), Shamim Kabadi, Munna Malviya and won the tenders of Toll Tax barriers in, Bija dandi, Chapara; Bhandara, Nagpur, Tilwara and Moregaon. As it is evident that the Toll-Tax business cannot be run without muscle power, which Abdul Razzak had aplenty, he soon became established in the Toll Tax business in MP.

It is here that he met a formidable opponent in the form of Mehboob Ali gang. Mehboob was also in the toll tax business. Thus started a bloody feud between these two gangs. The first bloody incident happened on 6th February 19 when Razzak attacked Akbar Ali alias Akku bhaijaan who was the younger brother of Mehboob Ali.

Abdul Razzak- How a milk vendor became the most dreaded Don of Jabalpur
L to R: Abdul Razzak ; Razzak with Congress leaders Alok Chansoriya and Alok Mishra

The start of a bloody feud

What started as a competition in supremacy in the toll tax business soon turned uglier and finally led to the start of a gang war between the two gangs. All efforts to reconcile went in vain. The Mehboob Ali gang tried to kill Abdul Razzaq by firing on him near the High Court on 29 August 2000. The matter is still pending in court. It became a free fire between the two gangs with henchmen armed with sophisticated weapons started bumping off members of the other gang. Things became uglier and on July 14 2003, Mehboob Ali’s younger brother, Akku Bhaijan was shot dead.

A case was registered against 19 people including Abdul Razzak. However, no witness came forward and finally all were acquitted. Abdul Razzak himself managed to build an alibi and was successful in trying to avoid the incident by getting himself challaned in RPF at Gwalior station without a ticket.

Again the two gangs clashed near Kapoor Crossing on 7 April 2004. Razzaq’s son Sarfaraz, along with two of his accomplices Majeed Karia, Abbas and other associates opened indiscriminate firing on Rahman Ali’s car, on Mehboob Ali’s brother who was returning to Jabalpur with a tender for sand Naka from Mandla. In the crossfire, Rajneesh Saxena, who was in the car, was killed in this incident. Bablu Khan and Chaman Kori were injured in the firing.

Investigation revealed that Rehman Ali had killed Rajneesh Saxena and that Rehman and his goons had tried to implicate Abdul Razzak. Abdul Razzak soon graduated into land grabbing and extortion racket.

His relations with the political biggies

He was used by politicians from major parties to bump off their opponents. Razzak had obtained the blessing of many BJP heavyweights but today is closer to opposition parties. All 86 cases have been registered in his name.

His son Sartaj has been previously accused of trying to incite communal riots by spreading false rumours. NSA proceedings have been initiated against Sartaj. Presently Razzak is in jail after sophisticated weapons were recovered from his fortress-like home in Naya Mohalla. It is also rumoured that Sartaj has escaped to Dubai.

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Manoj Nair

Manoj is a passionate writer who loves writing on a variety of subjects including trivia, retro movies, unique and unkno More »
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