There’s considerable merit in the simile that official corruption is like an ice-berg. Only one-tenth of it above the surface of water is visible to the naked eye. The massive dangerous body of corruption is invisible underwater. In the circumstances, one wonders about the sheer scale of official corruption in Maharashtra, India’s second most populous (115 million) and industrialised state accounting for 25 percent of the country’s industrial production, and Mumbai, the state’s admin and India’s commercial capital, in particular.

In recent months, three major scandals have rocked India’s most industrially and financially productive state. In February, an SUV automobile packed with explosives was detected outside the towering 28-storey residence of Mukesh Ambani, India’s wealthiest business tycoon. Investigations into the subsequent murder of the owner of the SUV, unearthed the involvement of a crooked cop, Sachin Waze, who had been suspended from the state police for 12 years, but was re-inducted in dramatic circumstances by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray soon after he was appointed chief minister of Maharashtra’s tripartite (Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) coalition government in 2019.

The next big scandal that has erupted in Maharashtra involved the home minister no less, Anil Deshmukh, who reportedly issued a directive to Mumbai police to extort Rs.100 crore per month from the city’s bars and restaurants. As evidence against him has mounted, he has been arrested by CBI. To this list, add the arrest and 29-day detention of Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan’s son on flimsy drug possession and running charges. The asking price for the Narcotics Control Bureau chief not opposing bail? Rs.25 crore!

Quite clearly in India’s most industrialised state and commercial capital where the Shiv Sena — a corrupt enterprise ab initio — steers government, the below waterline corruption ice-berg is growing exponentially.

Also read: Most infamous corruption scandals of India