Sher Singh Rana: Safety zone. (AFP)

A search for a haven away from the police glare brings them to Calcutta. Here, they get a taste of fast money from the booming realty trade and turn realtors themselves. This has been the story of most goons on the run from other states and holed up in Calcutta.

Following the arrest of several such criminals ? the most recent being Sher Singh Rana, prime accused in the Phoolan Devi murder case ? the city police have come upon evidence indicating that the goons, operating from their hideouts, have invested huge sums of money in the city?s real estate.

?We have information that several such criminals have turned realtors after arriving in the city and most are doing brisk business,? said a senior officer of the special branch, that has recently prepared a secret report detailing the operations of absconding criminals from other states.

The revelation has startled officers of the force, prompting them to draw up elaborate plans to net the outlaws.

Deputy commissioner (detective department) Gyanwant Singh said: ?We have identified some areas where these goons take shelter. Steps are being taken to flush them out.? He refused comment on the report.

Anup Kumar Chatterjee, additional commissioner in charge of the port area, said: ?This is stunning. We will raid the suspected hideouts.?

According to the report, these criminals-turned-promoters have set up base in the port area and some other pockets, like Rajabazar, Karaya, Topsia and Tiljala. All these places have witnessed a boom in real estate over the past few years. An investigation has revealed that more than 500 illegal structures have come up in the port area alone.

?The criminals first befriend local goons and with active support from them, pump in money into real estate,? said an investigating officer. ?It will be difficult for them to operate in the city if they do not take the local goons into confidence. The neighbourhood police stations claim to be ignorant about their activities.

The special branch report points out that the criminals offer a part of their earnings to the local police stations.

An officer at Lalbazar recalled how Mohammad Jahangir, a terrorist from Jammu and Kashmir, had taken shelter in the port area, from where he was arrested two years ago.

A probe had revealed that Jahangir, a member of the Harkat-ul-Jihad, had invested lakhs in a string of illegal constructions.