Manya Surve Biography 
Manya Surve was an infamous urban dacoit and gangster in the Mumbai underworld. He was killed in an encounter by Maharashtra police on 11 January 1982, and is the city's first recorded encounter killing, marking a new beginning – an era of encounters. Since then a total of 622 alleged criminals were killed in police encounters from 1982 to 2004. 2013 Bollywood film Shootout at Wadala, starring John Abraham was based on the life of Manya Surve and Kangana Ranaut played his alleged girlfriend.
His full name is Manohar Arjun Surve and he was born in 1944. He moved to Mumbai with his mother and stepfather. A brilliant student at studies, he completed graduation from Kirti College. In 1969, he got involved in the murder of a man named Dandekar, along with his step brother and an associate, Manya Podhkar. He was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. This incident became the turning point of his life. His studies ended abruptly and got the tag of a murderer as well. From an innocent guy to rough guy, his transformation happened during his stay in Yerwada Central Jail in Pune. He developed a fierce rivalry with another gangster, Suhas Bhatkar and the prison authorities had to transfer him to Ratnagiri jail. On 14 November 1979, he got released and he returned to Mumbai serving 9 years imprisonment.
Surve formed a gang of robbers with two trusted persons, Sheikh Munir from Dharavi and Vishnu Patil from Dombivili. The stealing of an Ambassador car in 1980 – it was the first robbery conducted by the gang. They used the same vehicle to loot from Laxmi Trading Company. Borrowing plots from a James Hadley Chase novel which he had read in prison, he implemented new plans and became successful as well. Police launched Operation Manya Surve to capture Surve and seize his activities.
On 11 January 1982, he was encountered by Maharashtra police at Ambedkar College junction in Wadala. He had come there to pick his girlfriend. It’s rumored that his information was given by Dawood Ibrahim, after finding his position being challenged by Surve. On the way to hospital he screamed that the police had not given him a fair chance to defend himself. He died on the way to hospital, ending his two years of activities.
Published: N/A
Updated: July 11, 2017
