01035pab a2200145 454500008004000000100002500040245005100065260000900116300001600125362001100141520066100152650003200813650001000845773003400855180718b2004   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aBhattacharya, Debraj  aKolkata `Underworld' in the early 20th century  c2004  ap.4276-282.  a18 Sep  aIn the course of the 19th century, Kolkata had acquired a distinctly cosmopolitan `underworld'. By the end of the century, new forms of urban disturbances had emerged in the city in the form of riots. This saw the emergence of the professional hoodlum or the `goonda' as a manufacturer of violence in the city. At first they were largley `upcountry' labourers, but in the course of time there was a wide variety of goondas in terms of origin and social background. By 1923, the Goondas Act had been promulgated ostensibly with the aim of controlling such hoodlums engaged in a range of `criminal' acts, as defined by the colonial legislation. - Reproduced.  aCrime - India - West Bengal  aCrime  aEconomic and Political Weekly