Bollywood Movie Dhurandhar Showcasing India’s Spy Ops Deep Inside Pakistan
Diplomat Foreign Desk
Karachi: Rehman was born in the 1970s in Lyari, one of Karachi’s oldest and most volatile neighborhoods.
During childhood, Sardar Abdul Rehman Baloch (who later turned into a bandit and gangstar), grew up in the poverty-stricken, neglected streets of Lyari. His father, Dad Mohammad, was a drug smuggler, which meant Rehman was exposed to the criminal underworld from a very young age.
He grew-up in an environment where Govt’s presence was minimal and local gangs provided the only sense of order.
The turning point came early when his father, Dad Muhammad, was allegedly killed. In the narrow alleys of Lyari, vengeance was a common inheritance. Rehman entered the world of crime not just for money, but for influence and protection within his Baloch community.
Hardcore Criminal From Very Young Age:
Contrary to the bandit moniker, he didn’t start as a thief. However, he killed his own mother Khatija, when he himself was 15-year-old. In his police custody, he told police that he suspected his mother that she was the informant of the police.
At the age of 13-years of age, he stabbed a man, who did not allow him to burst firecrackers in his area.
Becoming A Bandit:
As he grew, Rehman shifted from street-level brawls to organized crime. He wasn’t just a gangster; he became a parallel government.
The Robin Hood Image: He built schools, paved roads, and settled local disputes. This earned him immense loyalty from the people of Lyari, who shielded him from the police for years.
His rise led to a bloody turf war with rival gangs (most notably Arshad Pappu). The streets of Karachi became a battlefield of sophisticated weaponry and kidnapping rackets.
How He Became Political Pawn: Over a time, he became a “necessary evil” for various political parties in Karachi, used for muscle power during elections, which initially gave him a layer of immunity. However, it could not live for long with the political support. He tried to establish his influence in Karachi while competing with MQM. But failed.
Encounter: The law enforcement agencies were alarmed with the influence of a bandit turned gangster by 2009 and hence, Rehman had become too powerful and was seen as a liability.
Therefore, on August 9, 2009, the controversial police officer Chaudhry Aslam led an operation against the gangster and his members.
According to official reports, Rehman and three of his associates were killed in a shootout in the Steel Town area of Karachi, Pakistan. However, like many stories from Lyari, the “encounter” remains shrouded in mystery, with supporters claiming it was an “extrajudicial execution.”
His funeral was attended by thousands, proving that even in death, he remained a folk hero to many in his neighborhood.
Lyari After Rehman:
Following the death of Rehman in a controversial police encounter, Lyari didn’t find peace. A power vacuum emerged, leading to even more fractured and violent gang wars. His name remains a symbol of the “Under World Don” era of Karachi – a reminder of how poverty and a lack of justice can turn a child into a legend and, eventually, a target.
Bollywood Movie Dhurandhar: Re-Creates Lyari Gang & Indian Spy Network –
The film that best suits this story is “Dhurandhar” directed by Aditya Dhar. Dhar also directed Uri: The Surgical Strike. Released on December 5, 2025, explicitly based on the history of Karachi’s Lyari neighborhood between 1999 and 2009, featuring a massive star-cast.
Though the movie remains controversial, it has gained fame in India as well as Pakistan for its story line, and star-cast.
Akshaye Khanna played a key role as Rehman Dakait (Bandit). Khanna has acted as a ruthless yet influential figure in Lyari’s politics and crime.
Actor Sanjay Dutt as SP Chaudhry Aslam. He portrays the real-life controversial “encounter specialist” cop who eventually takes down Rehman Dakait.
Actor Ranveer Singh plays a shadowy Indian undercover agent who infiltrates the Lyari gangs. R. Madhavan plays a character modeled after India’s National Security Advisor (Ajit Doval), orchestrating the mission from the background.