Bhattacharya, Debraj creator text xu| 2004 continuing ng p.4276-282. In 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. Crime - India - West Bengal Crime Economic and Political Weekly 180718