Gold landings to real estate, an underworld saga from the past

Nalasopara was then a distant backwater of the city. With the expansion of Bombay, real estate began to take root in the mid-80's. With it came land grabbing and extortion.

Suresh Dube's murder took place in the wake of a land dispute with Jayendra alias Bhai Thakur. Dube and his brothers were allegedly told to part with a large plot and pay. 'hafta' to Bhai Thakur as protection money for continuing their construction business.

The killing pitchforked Bhai Thakur into a dreaded league. The list of cases against him was quite long - extortion, criminal intimidation, attempt to murder, murder; Thakur elder brother of the four-time MLA and founder of the Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi (BVA), Hitendra Thakur, went behind bars on charges under the Terrorist And Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act after Sudhakarrao Naik took over as chief minister.