: ಸದಾನಂದ್
ನತು ಶೆಟ್ಟಿ; 1952 − May 2002), better known by his nickname Sadhu Shetty, was a notorious Indian extortionist, criminal-politician and underworld don, based in Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

.

Varadarajan Mudaliar gang

A native of Paniyur Belapu grama village near Kapu

Kaup

Kaup may refer to:*Kapu, Karnataka, a village in Udupi district, Karnataka, India*Johann Jakob Kaup , German naturalist*Kaup–Kupershmidt equation, the nonlinear fifth-order partial differential equation...

 in the Udupi district, Shetty moved to Bombay in 1970 at the age of 18 in search of employment and became a waiter at a hotel in Chembur

Chembur

Chembur is a suburban neighbourhood in eastern Mumbai, India. It is 22 km from downtown Mumbai and 20 km from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport...

. One day, infuriated by the extortion tactics of Vishnu Dogle Chavan, a local goon and Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena , is a political party in India founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray...

 member, Shetty fatally hit him with an iron rod in a fit of rage. This attack proved to be Shetty's first murder. This murder brought Shetty close to the Tamilian

Tamil people

Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...

 underworld don, Varadarajan Mudaliar

Varadarajan Mudaliar

Varadarajan Muniswami Mudaliar, also known as Vardhabhai was a Tamil from Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, who rose to be a mafia don in Mumbai, India. Most active in the 1970s, he was the link in the underworld history between old time mafia men such as Haji Mastan.Varadarajan started as a porter in...

, and as a result, Shetty joined his gang. Soon, a revenge attack was made on Shetty by three of Chauhan's fellow gang members, which he survived. When Shetty came out of the hospital after four months, he killed all three of his attackers.

Boss of his own gang

After Mudaliar shifted his base to Madras, Shetty took control of a part of Chembur. The others who moved and took control as well
during this transition were mob boss Bada Rajan and his right hand man, Rajan Sadashiv Nikhalje

Chhota Rajan

Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan is the boss of a major crime syndicate based in India. He is a former key aide and lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim. Starting as a petty thief and bootlegger working for Rajan Nair, also known as Bada Rajan . Chhota Rajan took over the reins of Bada Rajan's...

 a.k.a "Chhota Rajan" (Little Rajan). Bada Rajan later also killed another rival Noor Mohammed Batliwala, before he and Shetty became partners in the illicit liquor business. Shetty was later held under the provisions of National Security Act

National Security Act (India)

The National Security Act 1980 is an act of the Indian Parliament whose purpose is "to provide for preventive detention in certain cases and for matters connected therewith." The act extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir...

 (NSA) in 1982.

Chotta Rajan eventually took over the reins of the gang after Bada Rajan's murder. After his involvement in a murder at Goregoan, Shetty became very close with Chotta Rajan. After joining Chhota Rajan, Shetty’s business grew, to include over six restaurants and bars.

In 1983, Shabir Ibrahim, the elder brother of D-Company's

D-Company

D-Company is a term coined by the media for the criminal organization and terrorist group headed by wanted terrorist leader and crime boss Dawood Ibrahim....

 boss, Dawood Ibrahim

Dawood Ibrahim

Dawood Ibrahim , also known as Dawood Ebrahim, and Sheikh Dawood Hassan, is the head of the organized crime syndicate [[D-Company]] in Mumbai. He is currently on the wanted list of Interpol for organised crime and counterfeiting. He was No. 4 on the Forbes' World's Top 10 most dreaded criminals...

 was murdered by Amirzada Nawab Khan, a sharpshooter for the Mumbai Underworld's most powerful don, Karim Lala

Karim Lala

Karim Lala , born as Abdul Karim Sher Khan in Kunar province of Afghanistan, was popularly known as the 'don of Mumbai' in India. He is widely recognized as the founder and pioneer of the Indian mafia in the Mumbai area...

. In retaliation, Dawood Ibrahim gave Shetty's gang the contract to eliminate Lala. Although the contract was never successfully accomplished, this brought Shetty close to the D - Company, particularly Dawood's right hand man, Chhota Shakeel

Chhota Shakeel

Chhota Shakeel , is an Indian, accused of association with Dawood Ibrahim.According to old hats, one of his stories which put him in the spotlight was his encounter with the customs officer...

.

In 1985, Shetty was one of the three shooters, the others being Chhota Rajan and Sanjay Raggad, who were involved in the murder of gangster Abdul Kunju. During a cricket match, the trio entered the arena on the pretext of retrieving the ball. After doing so, they walked right up to Kunju, pulled out their guns and shot him dead at point blank range. Kunju was responsible for both planning and staging the assassination of Chhota Rajan's mentor, Bada Rajan, on 21 September 1983. The assassin, Chandrashekar Safalika was lured by a Thane

Thane

Thane , is a city in Maharashtra, India, part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, northeastern suburb of Mumbai at the head of the Thane Creek. It is the administrative headquarters of Thane district. On 16 April 1853, G.I.P...

 based gangster Abdul Majid to Shetty's bar in Thane

Thane

Thane , is a city in Maharashtra, India, part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, northeastern suburb of Mumbai at the head of the Thane Creek. It is the administrative headquarters of Thane district. On 16 April 1853, G.I.P...

. Shetty alerted Chhota Rajan who kidnapped Safalika and took him to Dawood Ibrahim’s younger brother, Noora’s hideout at Nagpada

Nagpada

Nagpada is an area in South Mumbai. It is a mostly Muslim inhabited area. Nag is the Marathi word for cobra. A Nag temple still exists at this place. It is Muslim-dominated, so few people visit the temple, but on special occasions, Nag-Panchami people visit the temple. It is a crowded area, and...

. There he was viciously interrogated, tortured and subsequently killed the next day.

Shetty was also a primary suspect in the murder of Barkya Nalawade in 1986. In 1991, Shetty was part of an eight man hit team that ambushed a local underworld figure, Kim Bahadur Thapa near Mangatram petrol pump in Bhandup and killed him. The hit was carried out on the orders of Chhota Rajan, in retaliation for Thapa's tipping off ex-police inspector Dashrat Awadh that Rajan aide Naresh Awatu a.k.a "Jukkar" was visiting Bhandup. This tip-off resulted in Awatu's encounter.

Move to Dakshina Kannada

In 1992, Shetty left Mumbai and settled down in Dakshina Kannada

Dakshina Kannada

- Geography :The district geography consists of sea shore in the west and Western Ghats in the east. The major rivers are Netravathi, Kumaradhara, Phalguni, Shambhavi, Nandini or Pavanje and Payaswini which all join Arabian sea. Vast areas of evergreen forests which once covered this district, have...

. Here, he came to police attention when he shot a mobster Nagaraj Shetty a.k.a "Mani Nagu" in the leg, after a petty quarrel while having food at a marriage in Pane mangalore

Pane mangalore

Pane mangalore is a village on the banks of Netravati river near B.C.Road. It lies in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district.The National Highway-48 passes through this village.-External links:**...

. As a result of this shoot-out, Shetty was arrested under TADA

Tada

Tada is a town on the Chennai-Nellore highway, just over from Chennai, India and from Tirupathi. It is located in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh and is about north of the Andhra Pradesh border. This place is the exact border of the Andhra Pradesh.Its nearest major railway station is Tada and...

 by the then Udupi superintendent, Savitha Hande and sentenced to five years in prison.

Even in prison, he was suspected of involvement in a few murders. For instance, when Ranjan Shetty, his son-in-law was attacked by the Naveen gang from Mulki in Mangalore, he gave the contract to murder it's gang boss, Naveen to another infamous Mangalorean gang from Matadakani. He ordered it although the attack was due to a personal rivalry and Naveen had nothing to do with the incident.

The gang was initially unable to find Naveen. So, in frustration, they murdered a Chelairu club owner, Deju Shetty. Naveen was eventually tracked and killed by Matadakani gang member, Panduranga Pai, who later joined Shetty's gang upon moving to Mumbai.

Among other murders, Shetty along with Lalit Singh Thakur, Vicky and Ashok Rajput were also involved in the killing of Karianna Shetty at Ghatkopar

Ghatkopar

Ghatkopar is a suburban neighbourhood of eastern Mumbai. It is also a railway station serviced by Central Railway line of the Mumbai suburban railway.-History:...

 in 1993. After his move to Karnataka, he was also allegedly involved in the murder of a Congress Party activist, Anthony, near Mangalore.

Split from D-Company

When Chhota Rajan, infuriated at the Bombay serial blasts, split from the D-Company to form his own gang in 1994, Shetty along with a large chunk of Dawood Ibrahim's leadership-level Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 aides left with him.

In 1996, Shetty and his associates Lalit Singh Thakur a.k.a "Lalli" and Avdooth Bonde, survived an assassination attempt made by rival gangsters outside a sessions court in Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

. Shetty escaped unhurt even though the assailants had used Kalashnikov

AK-47

The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...

 rifles. He got so petrified that he asked the constables to take him to the nearby Oval Maidan and form a protective ring around him; and that was what policemen did, saving him on that occasion.

Foray into politics

Throughout his underworld career in Dakshina Karnataka, Shetty sought to ingratiate himself into politics. While in prison, he unsuccessfully contested Kaup assembly segment as an independent. After his release, he formed the Tulunada Sene, a political party through which he aspired to join politics. He also built a tightly secured fortress for himself at Paniyoor, from where he controlled all the hafta (extortion

Extortion

Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...

) activities in Mumbai. Shetty also ran an eveninger called Karavali Madhata.

Sadhu Shetty took great pride in his Bunt

Bunt (community)

Bunt , previously spelled Bant, are a community of erstwhile nobility, feudatory and gentry from the region of Tulu Nadu in the south west of India which comprises the districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada in the Indian state of Karnataka and Kasaragod taluk of Kerala...

 heritage. According to D.P Satish, a Mangalorean editor for CNN-IBN, Shetty told him a few days before his death:

Encounter killing

Shetty fled to Mumbai in 2000 after the arrest of Dilip Naik, a prime accused in the murder of Karwar MLA, Vasant Asnotikar. It is alleged that Naik had given Shetty the contract for Asnotikar's murder, which he successfully accomplished. On May 2002, Sadhu Shetty was shot dead in an encounter by a crime branch team led by the senior Police Inspector and encounter specialist, Vijay Salaskar

Vijay Salaskar

Vijay Salaskar was a Senior Police Inspector and encounter specialist serving with the Mumbai police. He was widely credited with killing 75–80 criminals in encounters — most of these were members of the Arun Gawli gang...

 at his hide out in Trombay

Trombay

Trombay is a northeastern suburb in Mumbai, India, with Mankhurd as the closest railway station on the Harbour Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway.-History:...

.

In retaliation for Shetty's killing, another hotelier, Dinesh Shetty was shot dead by two of Chotta Rajan's hitmen in Mumbai on 28 September 2002. Dinesh Shetty ran the New Lodge in Chembur, which was owned by Sadhu Shetty. He was also an office bearer of the Tulunad Sena. Chotta Rajan had suspected the Mumbai based hotelier of tipping off the police about Sadhu Shetty's whereabouts. Dinesh Shetty had left for Dubai on the same day Sadhu Shetty was gunned down by the crime branch team. Incidentally, he had come from Dubai a couple of days before. He along with his driver were shot from a point blank range

It is now widely believed that Sharad Shetty

Sharad Shetty

Sharad Shetty was an Indian mobster based in Dubai. He was one of Dawood Ibrahim’s top aides and was known to control most of the cricket betting racket in the Indian sub-continent. He belonged to the powerful Bunt community of South Canara district of Karnataka. Sharad Shetty was shot dead at The...

, a Dubai based hotelier and key aide of Dawood Ibrahim provided the vital tip-off which led to the elimination of Sadhu Shetty in the encounter killing. Sharad Shetty himself was shot dead at an Indian club in Karama

Al Karama, Dubai

Al Karama, or simply Karama , literally meaning dignity, is a residential district of Dubai close to Dubai Creek and part of the bustling older part of the city. It is outwardly distinctive due to the regularity of its low-rise residential buildings...

, Dubai

Dubai

Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

 by rival Chhota Rajan

Chhota Rajan

Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan is the boss of a major crime syndicate based in India. He is a former key aide and lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim. Starting as a petty thief and bootlegger working for Rajan Nair, also known as Bada Rajan . Chhota Rajan took over the reins of Bada Rajan's...

henchmen on 19 January 2003, in retaliation for the failed assassination attempt on Chotta Rajan in September 2000.