On 12th January, 1925, Abdul Kader Bawla, one of the richest men in colonial Bombay, was murdered near the Hanging Gardens on Malabar Hill while out for an evening drive with his mistress, Mumtaz Begum. The objective of the attack was to abduct Mumtaz, who was saved by the fortuitous appearance of four British army officers. Investigations by the Bombay Police revealed a link between the crime and the princely state of Indore. The subsequent controversy led to the abdication of Maharaja Tukojirao Holkar III of Indore to avoid an inquiry. Almost a century later, the sensational murder case continues to be a milestone in the history of the Mumbai police. At our Online Talk #MalabarHillMayhem, journalist and author Dhaval Kulkarni narrates the saga of a beautiful courtesan, a rich heir, a spurned king, an upright police officer, and a sensational murder, spiced with the undercurrents of that era.

About the speaker

Dhaval Kulkarni is a Mumbai-based journalist with around two decades of reporting experience across brands like the Times of India, Hindustan Times, the Indian Express, New Indian Express and DNA. He writes on a broad range of subjects like governance and politics, caste, identity and social movements, environment and forests, health, infrastructure, heritage, culture and archaeology. His first book, ‘The Cousins Thackeray: Uddhav, Raj and the Shadow of Their Senas’ was published in 2019. It has been translated into Marathi and Hindi. His second book, ‘The Bawla Murder Case: Love, Lust and Crime in Colonial India’ has just recently been published by HarperCollins Publishers India.