MARCH

12th MARCH 1993

The vehicle crawled through the stop-start motion on the Bombay roads. This afternoon in March was no different from other weekdays on the roads of Bombay. Traffic was chock-a- block. The bumper to bumper situations stressed out the driver. Abusive words spewed out from his mouth. His anger and frustration being exhibited by his banging of the steering wheels with open palms of both hands. He had an agenda. He had to reach the address on time. He had to stay undetected  and had to enact his getaway smoothly. He was sure the operation would be a success. After all a lot of planning had gone behind it. This act would be a slapping reply to the perpetrators.

                    

                    ------//-----

February 1993 

Hariram felt cheated. He could not believe that he had been robbed of his lifelong savings and possessions in daylight.

He had to retaliate.

He would plan and commit a daylight robbery that would stun the city.

He would need about a month to plan and execute the daredevil stunt.

Seth Roshanlal had to be taught a lesson. 

He targeted 12th March as his D-day.

One of the leading jewellers of Bombay Roshanlal had various showrooms strewn in this bustling metropole. His flagship showroom was the one in Zaveri Bazar 

Located at Bhuleshwar, Zaveri Bazar housed hundreds of jewellery shops selling gold, jewels and gems.

The quality of jewellery got in these markets is top class but there were some unscrupulous jewellers who also traded on the other side of the law.

 

Roshanlal had inherited his family business along with generations of trust and goodwill. His grandfather had started this shop years back as a very small trader and slowly over the years had built it up to its present stature by pure hard work and honesty. After his death the business passed down to his son and now his flamboyant grandson Roshanlal.

Times had changed. The vices got better of him. Roshanlal started womanising, drinking and gambling. His family fortunes were slowly depleting. He started cheating his customers to make quick bucks and fuel his addictions.

 

Hariram’s daughters February wedding would be a grand success. A widower his only goal in life was to see his daughter well settled. What better way than to see her off, adorned with jewellery that would be her pride and stability lifelong. Recently retired he had got together his life savings and a few loans from friends to buy jewellery for his only daughters big day.  They had done the selection of designs and organised the making of her desired patterns in sessions of great joy at Roshanlals showroom.

The day they received the finished jewellery was a day of rejoice. The hefty bill was miniscule compared to  the joy that spread on his daughters face.

The wedding was a grand success and with tons of emotions and tear jerking scenes his daughter left for her husbands house. They made a great couple. She would be happy. 

A few days layer the phone call shocked him. His daughter was crying at the other end. In a uncontainable sobbing stream she broke the news that a new neighbour, on viewing the brides jewellery, had bombshelled that the jewellery was fake and this had later been confirmed by her husband at the local jewellers.

 

Harirams world collapsed. The disgrace that he felt his daughter would have endured by the stain that she had fake jewellery was more impactful than the fact that he has been cheated of his lifelong savings by Roshanlal and his jewellery showroom.

 

Collecting all the jewellery he walked into the showroom to confront the jeweller. He got shooed away only to be told that he was a fraud and he must have committed a switch. His cries, screams and pleas all fell on deaf ears.

The police station refused to entertain his complaint and did not even allow his to file an FIR.

He realised that the law had been bribed and brought off by the unscrupulous jeweller.

He had to plan a revenge.

He would commit a daylight robbery.

It would be a hit and go and should happen when Roshanlal was in the premises.

He started working to a plan. 

   

                      -----///-----

12th MARCH 1993

The vehicle arrived at Zaveri bazaar after its agitated driver finally stopped at his destination. The vehicle had to be kept in the open in close proximity of his target. 

It was a crowded lane as the business men, market goers and general public went about their daily chores unaware of what was to transpire. 

Normally packed to the brim these lanes were scenes of jostling as the fast moving public rubbed shoulders with one another.

Apart from the normal crowd stray dogs and revered cows also staked their claim in this mele. Dogs lazed around as the bovine creatures also parked themselves in the middle of the street, busy masticating their food unaware of the confusion or additional jams they had created because of their action. Traffic slowly manoeuvred around these animals not wanting  to disturb them. The cacophony was earsplitting but everyone's ears around were used to these high decibels.

Mobile sandwich, Chaat and Dosa carts fed the hungry lunch goers as some business lunch meetings were being conducted around these mobile food stalls. 

It was a scene of bliss within chaos.

The driver sighted a tiny space between a sandwich sellers box and a parked hand cart. The turbaned hand cart puller with a waste cloth covering his face from the sun  was asleep taking a nap on his parked hand pulling cart. Two handles on one side of his cart angled towards the open sky. 

It was a hot afternoon and ever one was sweating in the sweltering heat. 

The driver manoeuvred his vehicle in position. Bang opposite was the huge board of ’Zaveri and Grandson Jewellers’

Bumping his vehicle rear into the parked hand cart he reverse parked into the available space. Hopefully he would not be pulled up by the traffic cops.The hand cart puller was still asleep unaware of the new activity beside him. 

Switching off the engine he withdrew the key and stepped off the vehicle. Locking the door he jostled his way into the crowds.

 

                         -----///-----

 

FIRST WEEK-MARCH 1993

Hariram had started his recce. He had gained a lot of information about the showroom. A series of 15 steps led to the high perched entrance of the shop.

It was guarded by a lone security guard with a loaded 12 bore rifle. The fancy thick twirl moustached, turbaned, uniformed guard normally sat in a padded round wooden stool carrying out his mundane task of guarding the showroom. A leather belt he wore displaying the shells was unnerving to those with bad intentions. 

For the entering customers  however he graciously opened the doors with a majestic salute and a warm welcome. The white marbled store was brightly lit with glaring tube-lights spreading a white sheen inside the store. Well placed spotlights highlighted the jewellery displayed. It was rectangle glass display cabinets all around the compact store. The walls were also adorned with vertical wall to wall cabinets housing sliding glass doors behind which jewellery was well displayed. Four saleswomen managed the sales standing behind the counters. He had noticed that Roshanlal came in the afternoon and normally had a late lunch. His small open office consisting of a table and a chair at the cash counter was located in a corner of the showroom away from the door.

A sturdy safe sat below the table, hidden away  from customers sight.

The guard normally went to fetch his bosses lunch leaving the door unguarded for about half an hour. He would place his loaded 12 bore gun lying against the inner marbled wall of the shop near the hinged door. It was a security lapse but due to bad practice he continued it all the time.

Ramlal also noticed that normally on Fridays after placing the order the guard  would quickly pop into the roadside Laxmi temple to offer his prayers to the goddess. He would go a few rotations around the diety and ring the hanging bell. After adorning his forehead with a streak of sandalwood paste he would rush back to the food outlet pick up the food and return to the showroom. 

So it would have to be a Friday.

The added time he spent away from the shop was the best time to strike.

                   

                   -----///-----

Friday 12th MARCH 1993

It was around 2pm.

Cloaked in a black cotton blanket Hariram was all set to carry out his daredevil act. The buzz in the market place was at it's peak. He watched from behind the parked hand cart. The hand cart puller was having a nap on his cart. The entrance of the brightly lit jewellery shop was in full view. He saw the guard stand up from his stool, open the glass door and walk in. He placed his loaded rifle resting on the wall as usual.

Coming out, he walked down the steps and got lost in the crowd. It was his lunch picking, temple trekking routine.

Hariram waited for about 10 minutes absorbing the scene. There were four well dressed salesgirls standing in the counter and Roshanlal smartly dressed in a black blazer sat at his end, engrossed in a glossy filmy magazine.

Apart from them, there were just three customers in the shop. It was a husband-wife and their small kid. 

The time was ripe.

Covering himself with the blanket he rushed up the stairs and barged into the shop. No one in the street had noticed this action. The door swung back and closed. 

Grabbing the loaded rifle he pointed it towards one of the girls and screaming at them shouted for the jewellery to be filled into a brown gunny sack he provided.

As it was sudden everyone in the shop were stunned. Roshalal’s face whitened as from the light that shone for a split second on the robbers face he recognised Hariram.

Poor Hariram however was in for a surprise.

Unknown to him Roshanlal  had just a week back acquired a pistol.

Quickly pulling this out from his inner jacket pocket he pointed it towards Hariram and shot.

That is the same moment the blast took place.

The bomb in the abandoned vehicle blasted.

All nine of them in the showroom were blown to smithereens. Along with them many other innocent bystander lost their lives in that incident in Zaveri Bazar. There was loss of life and property.

Unknown to everyone here at this time this was one of 13 car bombs/ incendiary devices containing shrapnel that had and would continue to explode in the city.

Going off between 13.30 and 15.40 the single-day RDX, grenade attacks resulted in 257 fatalities and 1,400 injuries

It was a black day in the history of Bombay.

A BLACK MARCH DAY!!

Credit for Image --Internet.