Organized Crime in India
After independence, organised crime in India expanded into a wider range of activities and extended over larger geographical areas. The single event which brought about the greatest change in organised crime was the idea of prohibition, forbidding by law the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages.
Organised crime was able to provide illegal liquor demanded by a large number of people. So many groups/gangs came to be engaged in manufacturing illicit liquor that they started fighting with one another. Inter-rivalries amongst them led to widespread use of violence. Quite a few of these gangs, the strongest, finally dominated the scene.
In the 1970s, many of these gangs extended their activity to drug trafficking. Political wrangling for separate states created a large demand for arms and weapons. Some gangs/syndicates started supplying illicit arms to insurgents, terrorists, naxalites and agitators.
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Some gangs further extended their activities to supplying girls to rich people in Islamic countries. Thus, the organised groups because of the large sums of money they had amassed and the elaborate organisation they possessed not only widely expanded their illegal activities but also started acting as kings of the underworld.
The modern era of organised crime is represented by the crime syndicate. Organised crime has been expanded to the point where policemen, political leaders, law officers, etc. have also come to be associated with the gangs and syndicates.
Many gang leaders contested elections to assemblies, parliament, municipal corporations, and gram panchayats, thereby securing political status which enables them to widen their social contacts, and use the influence of powerful people for escaping arrest after committing crimes.
These gangs and syndicates today not only enjoy large financial gains but also enjoy immunity from interference and possess monopolistic control in large geographical areas.