Daman freedom fighter turned don Lallu Jogi dies

SURAT: Lallu Jogi Patel, who had taken part in the movement of freedom of Daman from Portuguese rule, died of prolonged illness in a hospital in Mumbai on Thursday. He was 89. His last rites were held in Daman in the presence of relatives and friends.
Patel had suffered a fracture in a leg recently after falling at his son-in-law’s house at Udvada in Valsad. He was living with his daughter Kundan and her husband Hasmukh Patel after the murder of his wife Champa by his younger son Sandeep.
“We rushed him to Mumbai for surgery at Lilavati Hospital.His blood pressure was not in control. His organs were not functioning properly as he was a patient of blood pressure and diabetes,” Hasmukh said.
Patel had played an important role in the freedom movement of the Union Territory. Later in 1970s, he joined Sukar Narayan Bakhia, who had a thriving smuggling network along Gujarat coast. Bakhia worked for Mumbai don Haji Mastan while Patel handled his illegal activity at Daman port. Despite their illegal activities, Bakhia and Patel enjoyed respect of local people who used to even participate in their family functions. Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, the underworld don of Mumbai, had once attended a family function of Patel in Daman as a representative of Mastan for whom he worked then, police sources said. Patel had invested heavily in properties in Daman.
A piece of land on the coast used by Patel to unload contraband brought from foreign shores became the reason for murder of his septuagenarian wife Champa in October 2011. Sandeep, then 35, had stabbed her multiple times in their house in Marwad area of the Union Territory. Sandeep, a software engineer, had returned from the US after his elder brother Dilip committed suicide there. Sandeep wanted money deposited in Champa’s bank account, received from the sale of the 200 acre land to start business. He was arrested by police and sent to jail. Sandeep, who had separated from his wife, committed suicide while out on bail in 2013.
Patel was also father of six daughters. His daughters and relatives had reached Daman from different places and abroad for the funeral.