Manya Surve

Manohar Arjun "Manya" Surve (8 August 1944 – 11 January 1982) was an Indian gangster based in Mumbai. He was one of the educated gangsters who graduated from college and was well known for challenging and defeating existing gangs.

Surve was known for his daredevilry and strategic planning. As a young man and graduate of Kirti College, Surve was implicated in a murder that he did not commit and was sentenced to imprisonment in Yerwada Jail. Within just two years of activity, his crew rose to such prominence that the Pathans, who had ruled the underworld for over two decades, sought his help in murdering the Konkani-speaking Kaskar brothers, Dawood and Shabir, the leaders of their archrival gang, D-Company.

Following the murder of Shabir Ibrahim, Surve's fellow accomplices began to fall off one by one. Noticing this, Surve laid low. Meanwhile, local law enforcement was preparing operations to reduce persistent mob violence with an onslaught of targeted assassinations. Inspectors Isaque Bagwan and Raja Tambhat, with Senior Inspector Y. D. Bhide, was put in charge of taking down Surve.

Biography Early years Manohar Arjun Surve was born in 1944 in the village of Ranpar in the Konkan Ratnagiri region, located in the Central Deccan Division of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, British Indian Empire. The village is now a part of Ratnagiri Taluka, Ratnagiri District, Maharashtra, India. Surve moved to Bombay with his mother and stepfather in 1952. For years, he lived in different chawls in Elphinstone Road and Lower Parel. He was a Chemistry graduate from Kirti M. Doongursee College, Mumbai, achieving a high score of 78%. He then fell into street life, eventually forming a crew consisting of former classmates. During these years, he was introduced to his best friend and associate Sumesh Desai through his stepbrother Bhargav Dada. Dada was a feared criminal from Agar Bazar in Dadar. In 1969, Surve, Dada and associate Manya Podhkar were all charged in the homicide and gang assault of a man named Dandekar. The trio were soon arrested by Police Inspector E. S. Dabholkar and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Imprisonment and escape While incarcerated at the Yerwada Central Jail in Pune, Surve developed a fierce rivalry with gangster Suhas ("Potya Bhai") Bhatkar. Annoyed by Surve's terror tactics, the prison authorities had him transferred to Ratnagiri jail. There, he took part in a hunger strike and lost almost 20 kg before being transferred to the local civil hospital. Surve utilized this opportunity to escape on 14 November 1979 and returned to the streets of Mumbai, having served over nine years of his sentence.

The group's various successful heists and robberies brought a tremendous amount of attention. As a result, the police were put under great pressure to deal with Surve, and they launched Operation Manya Surve to capture and curb his criminal activities.

In popular culture The life of Manya Surve inspired and provided the basis for the 1990 gangster film, Agneepath. The film's main character, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, played by Amitabh Bachchan, was heavily based on Surve. Bachchan's portrayal of Chauhan earned him a National Award for Best Actor. It was remade with the same name, Agneepath, in 2012.

The life of Surve is portrayed in the 2013 Bollywood film Shootout at Wadala, starring John Abraham as Surve.