PANAJI
Long before Goa’s present string of high-profile dacoities rattled its sense of security, the State had weathered a similar wave at the turn of the millennium.
What unfolded in 1999–2000, veterans in the police department recall, was an era marked by fear, ferocity and a relentless pursuit of criminal gangs operating across State borders.
“The pattern is not new. We prepared detailed files on all suspected gangs and travelled to neighbouring states. Back then, human intelligence was everything,” a senior officer who served during that period told 'The Goan'.
Back then, Goa’s police operations extended far beyond its borders as teams travelled to neighbouring states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, tracking groups such as the Harapanahalli gang from Karnataka and the notorious Stuartpuram gangs of Andhra Pradesh. These syndicates were long associated with organised burglary and violent home invasions.
“Our team, some of them still in service, went to these places and gathered inputs in coordination with our counterparts,” a source said.
A catalogue of brutal and bizarre methods
Police stated the period revealed an astonishing range of modus operandi — from gangs that terrorised residents with brute force to others that operated with oddly selective restraint.
“One gang was known to throw a boulder into homes they targeted,” a retired officer recalled. “They would assault the occupants and decamp with valuables.”
Another group relied on cutting or breaking through window grills.
Some of their behaviour inside the homes was strangely ritualistic. “They were more considerate. If they found elderly people, especially those wearing gold, they never stole from them. They believed it was a bad omen. But if anyone confronted them, they retaliated,” recalled another.
A third gang slipped into Goa under the guise of scouting for construction sites. They hired taxis and auto rickshaws, asking drivers to show them ‘posh localities’, claiming they were seeking plots to build large complexes.
“Their true purpose was reconnaissance. They behaved like normal residents, such as watching movies, roaming around, blending in, all to gather information about families before they struck,” a source said.
These gangs, police sources recall, hit homes in Guirim, Pilerne, Altinho, Mangor Hill and several other pockets, often slipping away on foot or by vehicle to avoid suspicion.
The department concedes that arrests were few, but persistent tracking of their movements and techniques gradually forced them to abandon Goa as a preferred target.
Before surveillance, there was only grit
The officers involved in the early operations recall that policing in that era relied almost entirely on manpower and instinct. “Patrolling and gathering human intelligence were everything. We hardly had a digital presence but every personnel and officers till the top rank were on the field for several days without any break,” an officer said.
In one harrowing incident around 2010, police officers responding to a strike at a bungalow came under attack from a Chaddi Gang, infamous for moving swiftly and shirtless with bodies oiled to evade arrest.
“They wore only a chaddi, with a bed sheet carrying stones tied around their waist. They would hurl stones at whoever came in their way. Two of our personnel escaped serious injuries by hiding behind their bike,” the officer recalled.
Decline of old syndicates
While several of these gangs have retreated or disintegrated, some continue to surface in scattered incidents. The Irani gang, often impersonating policemen and infamous for chain-snatching, still appears intermittently, though recent arrests have thinned their presence.
