Hyderablog

Hyderabad Crime Beat: Swords, Rowdies and Henchmen

At breakfast this morning, I noticed a short article in the Deccan Chronicle about a mob that attacked and murdered a local thug who, at least according to the report, more or less had it coming to him. A combination of the circumstances and the style of reporting makes for interesting reading:

Gang Smashes Rowdy's Head
Hyderabad, Feb. 7: A gang murdered a 32-year-old rowdy on Saturday night, smashing his head with boulders in Rajendranagar. Police said that Meer Kazim Ali Razvi, a notorious land-grabber and a rowdy, was meeting his henchmen near the Surya Rao toddy shop in Rajendranagar, when about a dozen persons attacked him with swords, knives and sticks. They chased him and smashed his head with boulders before fleeing in two cars and a scooter....

While clearly quite a gruesome account, it's actually not unlike some of what you might read in the New York Post. And at least there's some comfort to be taken from the fact that the weapons of choice here tend to be good, old-fashioned rocks, sticks, and knives as opposed to (the far deadlier) handguns. For the uninitiated, a toddy shop is a roadside shop that sells illicit liquor.

posted by David @ 12:18 AM