''Byculla to Bangkok'' is the second non-fiction book on

organised crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

and terror in the modern-day Indian metropolitan city of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

written by S. Hussain Zaidi. It was first published by

Harper Collins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

in February 2014. The book is a sequel to '' Dongri to Dubai''. Hussain completed the story that was left unfinished in his earlier book by including the story of the "local lads" of the infamous mobster

Dawood Ibrahim Dawood Ibrahim (; born 26 December 1955) is an Indian mafia gangster, drug kingpin, and wanted terrorist from Dongri, Mumbai. He reportedly heads the Indian organised crime syndicate D-Company, which he founded in Mumbai in the 1970s. Ibrahim ...

. The book deals primarily with three of the mobsters of Mumbai: Chota Rajan,

Arun Gawli Arun Gulab Gawli (born 17 July 1955) also known as Arun Gulab Ahir, is an Indian politician, underworld don and retired gangster. Gawli and his brother Kishor (Pappa) entered the Mumbai underworld in the 1970s, when they joined the "Byculla C ...

and Ashwin Naik. The film adaptation is owned by

Ram Gopal Varma Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Hindi, Kannada language films, and television.** * ...

and

Red Chillies Entertainment Red Chillies Entertainment is an Indian visual effects, production and distribution company established by actor Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan in 2002. It was transformed from the defunct Dreamz Unlimited. Based in Mumbai, the studio' ...

Storyline

''Byculla to Bangkok'' is largely a story about Mumbai's gangsters. The book focuses on how young people were recruited and then they later went on to become mobsters of the city. Major characters in this book include are Arun Gawli, wheelchair user Ashwin Naik who was also a civil engineer of the city and an accomplished gangster, and Chhota Rajan. Chotta Rajan was earlier the deputy of Dawood, but later became his foe. The book is written with reference to police case files. Mumbai police's top officials like Vijay Salaskar,

Pradeep Sharma Pradeep Sharma (born 1961) is a former officer in the police force of Mumbai, India. Sharma attained notability as an "encounter specialist" with the Mumbai Encounter Squad and was involved with the deaths of as many as 312 criminals. On 31 Aug ...

and their squads, who are dubbed "encounter specialists", are also mentioned in the book. The writing style is racy.

Critical reviews

Critics argued that the prequel to the book, ''Dongri to Dubai'', was better in terms of story. The review by ''Mumbai Boss'' said:

The difference is Zaidi’s sensational style of writing that’s more suited to a cheap potboiler. The book has more clichés than a magazine of bullets. For example, "The night always seems eerier in the wilderness than in the city. Especially if death is in the air" and "Men would kill to possess her. But it seemed that those who made love to her were destined for certain death." And yet it somehow matches the personalities Zaidi profiles.

MPositive described it as "alternately spine-chilling and moving".

References

{{reflist Books about Mumbai 2014 non-fiction books Indian non-fiction books Non-fiction books about organized crime Crime in Maharashtra 21st-century Indian books D-Company HarperCollins books