Madhukar Zende

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Retd) Madhukar B. Zende, of Mumbai Police is best known for his sensational arrest of the serial murderer, Charles Shobraj. The story of the 1986 arrest makes headlines every few years. The Goan bar which was the scene of this is a tourist magnet to this day. Shobraj is only one of the many notorious criminals Zende put away. Arun Gawli, Karim Lala, Haji Mastan, Tiger Memon, and nearly every other ‘dark luminary’ has been at the receiving end of Zende’s decisive police action.

His even greater contribution as a policeman though has been in managing violent riots in Mumbai and saving precious lives by nipping explosive situations in the bud. The iconic picture, which shows him handily saving the lives of a van full of policemen from among hundreds of rioters, in the wake of the Babri Masjid demolition, is the stuff of Mumbai legends. Thanks to his tenure, the riot-prone mega-slum of Dharavi never saw a riot again.

There are several other remarkable cases that he solved over his career: the kidnapping of the producers of an Amitabh & Dilip Kumar starrer; the murder of Dawood’s brother; theseemingly perfect murder of a schoolteacher, and several others. ACP Zende received several plaudits and honours. He is the only officer in nearly a hundred years to receive the Meritorious Service Medal as well as the Distinguished Service Medal. He was specially commended by the Justice Srikrishna Commission on the Mumbai riots for his insightful perspectives. He was also commandeered by DGP Julio Ribiero of Gujarat Police to assess and improve the riot-prone city of Ahmedabad. ACP Zende achieved all of this without almost ever firing a single bullet in his career.