Amar Naik was an Indian terrorist and gang leader who caused sleepless nights for the Indian populace.

For more than two decades in the 90s, Amar Naik terrorized the streets of Mumbai, bringing fear to its citizens and driving some to leave the city altogether. 

How did he do it? Amar Naik started in his 20s as a petty thief and gradually moved up the ladder until he became one of India’s most notorious gangsters. By the time he was 35, he’d murdered hundreds of people and put dozens more behind bars, but his reign ended after just five years with his arrest in 1996. Learn more about this fascinating figure here.

A Brief Introduction to Amar Naik

Amar Naik was an underworld don who controlled one of India’s most powerful and feared gangs. Born into a poor family in Mumbai, he came from a humble background with no formal education. He has a brother named Ashwin Naik.

At just 15 years old, he became a gang member and started his criminal career by running petty thefts at local railway stations. He soon moved on to extortions, rapes, and murders of rival gang members. 

According to police sources, Amar Naik killed over 500 people by 2001 before being shot dead in 2002. His family continues to live under police protection due to continued threats by rival gangs, who are still active today.

How Did He Become A Feared Gangster?

Amar Naik was born into a criminal family and started his career as a petty thief. He then joined a small gang that operated on Mumbai’s beaches, robbing holidaymakers. 

With no real education or opportunities available to him, Amar Naik had few options, but he soon managed to get noticed by one of India’s largest mafia leaders, Varadarajan Mudaliar. 

Soon after joining Mudaliar’s D-Company (the name given to the crime syndicate Dawood Ibrahim’s network), he was sent out of state to work with Chhota Rajan—who had split from Dawood Ibrahim in 1993 and declared himself an independent mafia chief.

When Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Anees Ibrahim was killed, Chhota Rajan blamed Amar Naik and ordered his death. However, instead of killing him, they took him to Dubai and promoted him to the leader of their network. He also established contacts with many Hindu gangs based out of Uttar Pradesh as he managed to expand his influence across India. 

Earlier on in his career as a gangster, Amar Naik is reported to have killed several people and broken prison by himself at least five times – with all four attempts being successful! 

He is believed responsible for killing about 800 people, including rival gang members, politicians, local policemen, and business owners who refused to pay protection money. Many believe that it was his ambition that led to his downfall.

How Did He End Up Behind Bars?

After several years on the run, Amar Naik was arrested and convicted by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation for multiple charges, including murder, kidnapping, extortion, smuggling, and drug trafficking. 

Amar Naik‘s journey from a school dropout to a feared crime boss is extraordinary. Before his arrest, he controlled a business empire worth $9 billion and hundreds of thousands of employees worldwide. 

Cause Of Death

On October 24, 1995, at around 9 PM, Amar Naik was gunned down by the police. He had been surrounded by a building near Mahim. He and his men had killed two policemen and three others earlier that day. 

In total, he is believed to have killed more than 150 people. He was 30 years old when he died.