On December 18, 2021, Ganesh Mote, 21, shot and killed career criminal Yogesh Jagtap. Soon after, Mote uploaded a short video as an Instagram post. It was from the song “Tapka re tapka, ek aur tapka” from the 1997 film, Mahaanta.

To those unaware of Pimpri Chinchwad’s criminal underbelly, Mote’s post would have been just a throwback to ’90s’ Bollywood, but there was more to the post than a reminder of actor Sanjay Dutt’s questionable dancing skills. It was a declaration and a flex of power on Mote’s part.

On December 26, 2021, Mote and two associates were arrested by Pimpri-Chinchwad police for killing career criminal Yogesh Jagtap. All three accused were in their early 20s. They had been on the run for eight days.

Mote had shot Jagtap at Katepuram crossing in Pimpri-Chinchwad. Katepuram crossing is near Kavde Nagar colony, where Mote’s parents Vandana and Hanumant rent a room. Hanumant, a vegetable seller, is the one who reported Jagtap’s killing to the police.

“When I heard that Jagtap had been shot, I called the police, but I didn’t know at the time that it was my son who had shot him,” Hanumant told Newslaundry. When asked why Mote may have murdered Jagtap, Hanumant said, “My son was tired of Jagtap. He [Jagtap] used to get him beaten up by the boys of Jagtap’s gang. Once he had to get 40 stitches on his face. Jagtap had also beaten me up twice when Ganesh was in jail. Maybe that’s why Ganesh killed him.”

At 21, Mote has already gathered a criminal record. Mote was found guilty of robbery, theft and dacoity, and spent two and a half years in prison. He came out in September 2021, three months before he murdered Jagtap.

Mote’s mother Vandana works as domestic help. She is also convinced Mote’s violent act had been spurred by revenge. “My son never wanted to become a criminal but because of Jagtap, he turned into a criminal. We bailed Ganesh out 14 times. Jagtap’s people used to trap him by falsely implicating him in many cases,” she said.

When she thinks of her son now, Vandana remembers he could have had a different life. “My son scored 70 percent in class 10,” she said. “He was good at studies and I don't know how all this happened.”

Teenager and criminal kingpin

Pimpri-Chinchwad city is part of Pune district and used to fall under the jurisdiction of the Pune police. Due to its expanding area and growing population, the new commissionerate of Pimpri-Chinchwad was created in August 2018.

RK Padmanabhan, who is now retired, was the first police commissioner of Pimpri Chinchwad. By the time of his appointment juvenile delinquency had already reached alarming proportions.

“I found out that the biggest gangster of Chikhli in Pimpri-Chinchwad is a 16 and a half year old boy named Akya Bond,” remembered Padmnabhan. “Everyone was scared of him. After that, we found out that many criminals in Pimpri-Chinchwad are young boys who are in gangs with members of similar ages. All of them were hyperactive on social media.”

In the office of Pimpri-Chinchwad’s anti-goon squad, there is a large hall that has a wall with the names of the gangs in the area and some gang members. Seventy percent of these are boys aged between 17 and 24 years. Some are in prison, some are out on bail and some are dead.

Over 2020 and 2021, of all the murders reported in Pimpri-Chinchwad, the police estimate 50 percent were committed by young adults, aged between 18 and 25. Between July 2021 and February this year, 30 cases related to gangs were registered in Pimpri-Chinchwad and 70 people were arrested for uploading posts like Mote’s video, which have a criminal angle to them.

Police officers describe these social media posts as “bhaigiri”, or emulating performances of violent alpha masculinity that are often inspired by popular culture, like television shows and commercial cinema.

Harish Mane currently heads the anti-goon squad of the crime branch and has been working in Pimpri-Chinchwad’s crime branch in various capacities for the last nine years.

“Many of these boys entered the criminal world only because of friendship. These boys frequently use choppers in fights and have also been getting guns from Madhya Pradesh for some years. Eighty percent of these young people are from extremely poor families and ruin their lives,” said Mane.

The police estimate there are more than 20 criminal gangs with members who are underage and young adult males. Many of these gangs have loyal following on social media.

Gangs like Ravan Samrajya group, Akya Bond toli, SK (Sonya Kalbhor) group, Golden group, and Bobby Yadav aka BY Boys have Instagram and Facebook accounts. Their posts frequently show gang members with weapons, calling themselves bhai, dada, don, king and other slang terms for gangsters. Many also upload videos on Youtube (see here, here, here, here, here and here, for example).

Mane said the gangs became noticeably active on social media from 2013 onwards.

“These youths share stories on social media like they are dons of the city and can kill anyone,” said Mane. He said often posts show weapons or movie dialogues or show the gang leader or member with a large number of boys, as a show of strength. “They try to portray themselves as big gangsters or bosses,” Mane said.

During his tenure, Padmanabhan created a special police team that was tasked with monitoring social media accounts of juvenile delinquents and arresting those who posted, liked, shared or commented on posts made by gangs.

“We have got many groups like these removed from social media in the past eight months. We have registered 30 criminal cases and arrested about 70 people related to posting about bhaigiri on Instagram. Many of these were college students, who don’t commit crimes, but follow these groups and promote them. People like that are called ‘boilers’ by other members,” said Mane.

The anti-heroes

According to the police, there have been 156 murders reported to the Pimpri-Chinchwad commissionerate. Of these, more than 50 percent of the murderers and victims are young males. Many are minors.

Since 2018, Pimpri-Chinchwad police have been able to put leaders of many gangs in jail, often charging them under relevant sections of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. Some have been murdered by rival gangs.

Akya Bond, who was the kingpin of a criminal gang called Bond toli in Pimpri-Chinchwad at age 16, was born Sumit Mohal and known to have terrorised locals. He was eventually caught after he vandalised some cars because he was enraged that one of his gang members had been killed. In May 2020, Akya Bond and five of his accomplices – two of whom were minors – were arrested and charged under the MCOCA.

Akya Bond is now 19 and a half years old and in Pune’s Yerawada Central Prison.

Of Pimpri-Chinchwad’s gangs, the most famous is Ravan Samrajya whose one-time leader Aniket Jadhav continues to command a loyal following on social media. Jadhav had 10 cases registered against him for a variety of charges including attempted murder, inciting riots and violating the Arms Act.

In November 2017, Jadhav was killed by members of rival gangs, led by Hanumant Shinde of a gang called Mahakali group and Sonya Kalbhar of the SK group. Jadhav was 22.

Outside of Pimpri-Chinchwad, Ravan Samrajya has followers in Satara, Hingoli, Nasik, Shahada and other parts of Maharashtra. Its fans still post about Jadhav, with some claiming he is a god.

Avishkar Salunkhe, 26, was a member of Ravan Samrajya and had been booked under MCOCA in 2018. He spent two and a half years in Yerawada Central Prison and was released in 2020. Salunkhe now works as a Regional Transport Office agent.

“The Ravan group isn’t active anymore. But several who believe in the Ravan group post on social media about avenging Aniket’s death and we come in the police’s crosshairs,” Salunkhe told Newslaundry. “The people who make posts have never met Aniket and neither were they part of the Ravan group, but boys who follow Ravan group on social media are all over Maharashtra. The police don't investigate who is behind posts like these and points straight toward us. The boys who post on Facebook or Instagram with weapons get into crime willingly or unwillingly.”

Idolising and social media

Psychologist Sonali Kale explained that bhaigiri posts are attempts to manifest a feeling of power. “They feel empowered when they post with weapons or aggrandise themselves. Other people of their age look at these posts and they start following them. By following groups like this, they start idolising the criminals and are slowly drawn towards crime,” Kale said.

Aditya Ahirwar, 27, said that being part of a criminal gang makes members feel important. He became part of a gang at age 17. “Politicians used to take our help, used to provide legal aid, and money. There was a terror in my name. I used to feel powerful and because of that I sunk into crime,” said Ahirwar.

In Pimpri-Chinchwad, social media is closely connected to on-ground criminality. However, unlike the violence of organised crime, there’s a callous whimsicality to the juvenile delinquency seen in Pimpri-Chinchwad.

“These are ordinary boys who want to show off. Murders in organised crime generally happen for money, capture of business, stature or revenge, but these boys in Pimpri-Chinchwad kill each other for no reason,” said Mane, who said much of the criminality among minors started with children dropping out of school and instead hanging out in small groups.

Ajay Kalbhor, 27, is known on social media as AK and claims to have approximately 3,000 people in his group. Kalbhor was 17 when he committed murder. “One of my friends got into a fight with some boys in Akurdi [in Pimpri-Chinchwad]. During the fight, I mistakenly stabbed someone in the belly with a Rambo knife and he died,” said Kalbhor. The murder was the starting point of Kalbhor’s fame.

“There have been murders here for staring, for not providing liquor. Once, a waiter was murdered just because he forgot to bring slices of lemon. Most boys here kill after getting high on drugs. When some get bail after the charges of murder, attempt to murder, they become famous. Then posts about them are made on social media by their friends or themselves,” said Mane.

Sometimes the social media posts are seen as provocation to violence.

On December 23, 2021, Dashant Pardeshi 17, was killed by his cousin Kamlesh Pardeshi 20, and his friend Prakash Lohar, 19, near the National Heavy Engineering Company, in Pimpri-Chinchwad. Kamlesh and Lohar had seen a recent Instagram post of Pardeshi’s, uploaded right after the three had fought, in which Pardeshi wrote “302 hundred percent”. The post also had a gun emoji.

Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code outlines the punishment for murder.

Kamlesh and Lohar saw Pardeshi’s post and concluded that Pardeshi was planning to kill them. The two then asked Pardeshi to meet them. When Pardeshi arrived, Kamlesh and Lohar bludgeoned Pardeshi to death using a hammer.

The price of notoriety

Kalbhor, who was previously charged under the Maharashtra Preservation of Dangerous Activities Act and MCOCA, says he is no longer interested in crime though his the murder he committed at the age of 17 raised his profile both online and offline.

“I was a minor so I was released 28 days later. I became famous after I came out,” said Kalbhor. “Earlier, I only had 14-15 friends, but then slowly it grew. Today, I have 2,500-3,000 people in my group. I became active on social media in 2015 and from there, people kept joining. There were 10-12 accounts on Facebook with my name. Not even I knew who was running accounts with my name.”

In 2016, Kalbhor spent seven months in Mumbai Central Prison, popularly known as Arthur Road jail. The charges under MPDA against him were dropped.

“I have neither been charged in a single case since 2018 and nor do I want to get embroiled in any crime now. Now I’m respected more than I’m feared,” said Kalbhor, adding, “I have never troubled poor people.”

However his continuing online popularity sometimes causes trouble for him.

“Last year, on my birthday, one of my followers using an account in my name made two posts. One said, ‘Bhau aamcha, baap tumcha’ [Our brother, your father], and the other talked about causing an explosion in Pimpri-Chinchwad,” said Kalbhor, who was questioned by the police after these posts were uploaded.

While they did determine Kalbhor hadn’t written the posts, Kalbhor was still externed from Pune district. This year, the externment order was extended by another two years.

“I ask every boy in my group to not post anything with weapons or bhaigiri dialogues on social media. If someone comes to me, I advise them to stay away from crime or their life would be ruined. There are many accounts in my name and mine is only one of them. If there is some inappropriate post from those accounts, I get into trouble,” said Kalbhor.

The popular support that comes from being part of a gang can be a heady feeling. Ahirwar, who has distanced himself from the world of crime, remembered how supporters would show up for him back when he was in a group that had about 2,000 members.

“When the leader of that group and I assaulted a guy in a beer bar, I was charged with Section 307 [attempt to murder]. When the police produced me in court for the first time, more than 100 boys showed up to meet me. We became acquainted and then one after the other, cases were registered against me. Shots were fired on me in 2015, but I survived. By 2016, there were 11 cases against me from attempted murder to [violating the] Arms Act,” Ahirwar told Newslaundry.

Since 2016, Ahirwar has made a new beginning for himself and this was possible for him because he comes from a relatively privileged background. His father is a doctor and Ahirwar now runs a restaurant.

“My family suffered a lot because of me. My family was privileged so they could bear it, but these kids are from poor families. Their families would be destroyed with them,” said Ahirwar.

Newslaundry also contacted police commissioner of Pimpri-Chinchwad Krishna Prakash. This report will be updated if we receive a response from him.

This story was first published in Newslaundry Hindi. It was translated to English by Shardool Katyayan.