Many now engaged in board and card games or new sports

CHENNAI: This is a ‘lock-up’ period gangsters in the city are not complaining about. With neither police nor rivals to fear, they are spending time with their families in safe houses, catching up on sleep and watching movies, reliving the ‘big’ moments of their careers. Some miss their friends; almost everyone yearns for liquor.“Until now,” an aide of a notorious criminal told TOI, “he was always in a rush. Sleeping very little, fearing he could be targeted by his rivals. Now, he is in deep sleep almost through the day. He has no fear as he knows everyone else is similarly enjoying.”The shortage of liquor, with all Tasmac outlets and bars closed, is a common grouse. Many had stocked up for the lockdown, buying cartons of popular booze brands and hoarding them in secret ‘vaults’, but it soon ran out. Many are exploring other options.A history-sheeter in Washermenpet said, “We are getting ‘sunda kanji’ (fermented rice beer) and other such stuff and we are happy.”Others say they do not need a drink to get a high. “I am happy these days, repeatedly watching Tamil movies starring Sivaji Ganesan like ‘Parthal Pasi Theerum’ and ‘Pasa Malar’,” says a criminal in north Chennai.Usually found settling quarrels or fighting pitched battles with rivals, many are now engaged in different battles – in board games like ludo and card games like rummy or new sports like blackjack. The bravado also is evident. “I escaped three attempts on my life, suffered severe injuries in other attacks. I can face this coronavirus,” boasted a don in Vyasarpadi. His aide said, “I have never seen annan (elder brother) down with fever even once in the past five years.”Even busy criminals like Kakkathope Balaji, ‘CD’ Mani, ‘Sambo’ Senthil, ‘Bomb’ Saravanan and ‘Culvert’ Ravi remain quiet, either cooped up in hideouts in neighbouring states or ‘living it up’ on the outskirts of the city in other parts of the state, indoors.The law enforcers are happy. A few like ‘Vellai’ Ravi, who escaped after coming out on parole in July 2014 and was nabbed on April 9, Binu Pappachan, who shot to fame after cutting his birthday cake with a machete, and Nagendran are now in jail. But none of the 45-50 active rowdies in the city has been involved in any criminal activity, an officer of the city police’s anti-gangster team said.Police statistics show 11 murders and 16 attempt-to-murder cases were reported from January to March 20, with five murders and eight attempt-to-murder cases in February alone, but none between March 20 and April 15. The 180 check points covering all arterial roads, about 2,700 traffic police personnel and 6,000 law and order and crime wing personnel on regular patrols have ensured peace.