Review: Operation Bazooka by Rajesh Pandey and Rakesh Goswami

In the late 1990s, Shriprakash Shukla was a name that evoked terror in the streets of Lucknow and later in the northern heartland. Shukla was a young, flamboyant and fearless killer, always attacking in broad daylight, on busy streets, pumping 60 to 100 bullets into a single victim from his AK-47. He was smart, paranoid and always a step ahead of the police. In many ways, Shukla was a maverick; he never allowed himself to be photographed and stole government vehicles with official red lights so that he would never be stopped at a barricade. He exclusively used public phone booths and cell phones to communicate so that he wouldn’t be tapped or tracked and kept changing his base in India and Nepal, never staying put in a single location for long.

Operation Bazooka was the name coined by former IPS Ajay Raj Sharma, the creator and leader of UP’s first STF, a unit created with the sole aim of hunting down Shukla. A unit of which the author Rajesh Pandey is a founding member. This is the true story of Shukla’s short yet bloody reign in UP and the police hunt that finally succeeded in bringing him down.

The birth of Shriprakash Shukla as a crime lord can be traced to the Northeastern Railways in Gorakhpur. High-value railway tenders had been the subject of gang violence since the 1970s. Two gangs had emerged victorious, one under Virendra Pratap Shahi and the other under Hari Shankar Tiwari. Dissatisfied with this equation Surajbhan Singh, the leader of the Bihar gang, had been trying to get a piece of the tender pie for years but had failed. He was on the lookout for an assassin who could make a statement on his behalf. Enter, Shriprakash Shukla, who assassinated Shahi in broad daylight in a posh Lucknow locality. Jumping off a motorcycle, he and his 2 friends riddled Shahi’s body with 112 bullets in the presence of his wife, daughter and several others. This level of brutality, violence and utter contempt for the law had never been seen before. It immediately catapulted Shukla to fame. Shukla on his part, loved the infamy, often calling up reporters and threatening them into writing about him while claiming responsibility for several attacks.

A string of high-profile murders and kidnappings later, the name Shukla became the scourge of the police and the business community in UP who were often kidnapped and held ransom for crores of rupees. The media and the powers that be reigned holy fire upon the police to deliver results and yet for the longest time the police had no idea who they were looking for. Finally, the former UP CM, Kalyan Singh asked for the formation of a Special Task Force that was given carte blanche in terms of resources to bring Shukla down.

In Operation Bazooka one of the key obstacles to overcome is to tap and track phone calls made from cellphones, a technology that is so new in India, that few have ever used it. This is where the author makes fundamental contributions in setting up devices that tap into and track cell phone calls made by Shukla and his gang which finally allowed the STF to track down his various haunts both in India and Nepal.

In many ways, Operation Bazooka does justice to the police procedural format often delving deep into various chains of command and due processes. While the writing is a bit sparse on the atmospheric front and at times heavy on jargon it still makes for a compelling read. Pandey and Goswami keep a tight pace and the easy prose makes for a quick read.

Operation Bazooka serves as a fine introduction to crime in 1990s north India. The authors present precise links between gang lords, the police, the informant system, the government machinery and the public. They do a fine job of tracing the criminal web that connects all of them while repeatedly demonstrating how it takes an entire village to catch a criminal. For those looking for a fast-paced thriller, this book does not disappoint.

Percy Bharucha is a freelance writer and illustrator with two biweekly comics, The Adult Manual and Cats Over Coffee. Instagram: @percybharucha

Operation Bazooka is a story of many firsts. The first use of an AK-47 for a crime in Lucknow, the setting up of India’s first electronic surveillance unit and the creation of UP’s first Special Task Force (STF).

In the late 1990s, Shriprakash Shukla was a name that evoked terror in the streets of Lucknow and later in the northern heartland. Shukla was a young, flamboyant and fearless killer, always attacking in broad daylight, on busy streets, pumping 60 to 100 bullets into a single victim from his AK-47. He was smart, paranoid and always a step ahead of the police. In many ways, Shukla was a maverick; he never allowed himself to be photographed and stole government vehicles with official red lights so that he would never be stopped at a barricade. He exclusively used public phone booths and cell phones to communicate so that he wouldn’t be tapped or tracked and kept changing his base in India and Nepal, never staying put in a single location for long.

Operation Bazooka was the name coined by former IPS Ajay Raj Sharma, the creator and leader of UP’s first STF, a unit created with the sole aim of hunting down Shukla. A unit of which the author Rajesh Pandey is a founding member. This is the true story of Shukla’s short yet bloody reign in UP and the police hunt that finally succeeded in bringing him down.

The birth of Shriprakash Shukla as a crime lord can be traced to the Northeastern Railways in Gorakhpur. High-value railway tenders had been the subject of gang violence since the 1970s. Two gangs had emerged victorious, one under Virendra Pratap Shahi and the other under Hari Shankar Tiwari. Dissatisfied with this equation Surajbhan Singh, the leader of the Bihar gang, had been trying to get a piece of the tender pie for years but had failed. He was on the lookout for an assassin who could make a statement on his behalf. Enter, Shriprakash Shukla, who assassinated Shahi in broad daylight in a posh Lucknow locality. Jumping off a motorcycle, he and his 2 friends riddled Shahi’s body with 112 bullets in the presence of his wife, daughter and several others. This level of brutality, violence and utter contempt for the law had never been seen before. It immediately catapulted Shukla to fame. Shukla on his part, loved the infamy, often calling up reporters and threatening them into writing about him while claiming responsibility for several attacks.

A string of high-profile murders and kidnappings later, the name Shukla became the scourge of the police and the business community in UP who were often kidnapped and held ransom for crores of rupees. The media and the powers that be reigned holy fire upon the police to deliver results and yet for the longest time the police had no idea who they were looking for. Finally, the former UP CM, Kalyan Singh asked for the formation of a Special Task Force that was given carte blanche in terms of resources to bring Shukla down.

In Operation Bazooka one of the key obstacles to overcome is to tap and track phone calls made from cellphones, a technology that is so new in India, that few have ever used it. This is where the author makes fundamental contributions in setting up devices that tap into and track cell phone calls made by Shukla and his gang which finally allowed the STF to track down his various haunts both in India and Nepal.

In many ways, Operation Bazooka does justice to the police procedural format often delving deep into various chains of command and due processes. While the writing is a bit sparse on the atmospheric front and at times heavy on jargon it still makes for a compelling read. Pandey and Goswami keep a tight pace and the easy prose makes for a quick read.

Operation Bazooka serves as a fine introduction to crime in 1990s north India. The authors present precise links between gang lords, the police, the informant system, the government machinery and the public. They do a fine job of tracing the criminal web that connects all of them while repeatedly demonstrating how it takes an entire village to catch a criminal. For those looking for a fast-paced thriller, this book does not disappoint.

Percy Bharucha is a freelance writer and illustrator with two biweekly comics, The Adult Manual and Cats Over Coffee. Instagram: @percybharucha