'Godmother' leaves behind terror legacy

This is why some found it hard to believe that 62-year-old Santokben died an ordinary death, rather than a fatal attack on her life, as most had expected her end to be.
She died of cardiac arrest on March 31.

Politicians and policemen who knew her describe the once-feared gang leader as a determined woman who took up arms to defend her children after her husband Sarman Munjha was killed by rival gang members in the early 80s.

"However, political parties that supported her openly in the 80s and discreetly in the early 90s used her for their benefit as she had a vice-like grip over legitimate businesses like real estate, transport and also over limestone smuggling and extortion from businessmen," said Porbander MLA Arjun Modhwadia, who has seen the rise and fall of Santokben.

The Congress leader said initially she became the head of the taluka panchayat after her henchmen allegedly threatened the party candidates at gunpoint to withdraw their nominations.

"Later, she was won the Assembly polls from her hometown Kutiyana on a Janata Dal-BJP ticket. The first time that a woman who was dreaded rather than loved won an election," he said.

Santokben's life and exploits not only earned her the nickname 'godmother', it also led to the making of a full length feature film with the same title starring Shabana Azmi in the lead role, speaking Gujarati, chewing pan, taking on men and carrying a double bore gun.

A senior IPS officer posted in Porbandar and Rajkot districts, her main area of operations, said Santokben slowly lost grip over her gang members and the actions of her four children in the mid 90s.

"It is true that the gang headed by her was allegedly behind as many as 18 murders, mostly of rival gang members who killed her husband in a power struggle. But she personally had not pulled the trigger on anyone," said Satish Sharma, who had arrested her for the first time in the 90s.

He said the upbringing of her children was a clear sign of things to come and the fact that there are charges of kidnapping, extortion and murder against all four -- Kandhal, Karan, Kanha and Bhoja -- is adequate proof of this.

Navghan Odedra, who runs an education institute for girls set up by Santokben, said that it was probably the notorious life of her sons that led her to arrange for the wedding of numerous girls from poor background and also their education.

Santokben's arrest and Porbandar police's crackdown on the gang's activities forced her to shift to Rajkot in the late 90s.

"However, it appears that people dying violently is a curse on the Jadeja family and it came back to haunt them in 2006 when the erstwhile mafia queen's daughter-in-law Rekha was murdered allegedly by her husband in their house in Rajkot," said another senior police officer.

A Rajkot-based businessman who was once her personal assistant said Santokben was a crowd puller wherever she went in her hey days.

"This continued even on her last day as a crowd of nearly 5,000 people apart from family members were present when her pyre was lit. All her four sons were also present, just as she would have liked it to be," he said.