Sapna and Ustara's Nepal arms heist

Sapna and Ustara's Nepal arms heist stands as one of the most audacious and revealing episodes in the annals of the Mumbai underworld, a rare instance where a woman not only participated in a high-stakes armed robbery but also dictated its outcome against the grain of criminal profit. The operation, carried out in the rugged terrain of Birganj, saw Sapna and Hussain Ustara intercept a consignment of automatic weapons meant for Dawood Ibrahim's network. Yet the heist's true significance lies not in the seizure itself but in Sapna's subsequent decision to destroy the entire haul, a defiant act that underscored her refusal to be complicit in the mafia's blood trade and set the stage for her eventual, brutal martyrdom at the hands of Dawood's acolytes.

Background and Planning

The heist was conceived as a direct strike against Dawood Ibrahim's financial empire, a calculated attempt to wound the don where he would feel it most—in his pocket. Ustara, who narrates the operation, had explained to Sapna that while the seizure of a single consignment was significant, it would take several such attacks before Dawood would feel the hole in his wallet and be truly alarmed. The two spent two days meticulously working out the details of the ambush before heading for Birganj, driven by an associate named Raamu Singh to a pre-decided spot. From there, it was only Sapna and Ustara, walking the rough terrain of Birganj to find the route used by smugglers. They chose to hide behind a massive nine-foot rock, armed with nothing but dry fruits, water-bottles, a torch, a long rope, and their automatic pistols, knowing the wait would be long.

The Ambush and the Donkey-Kick Maneuver

At around 5.30 in the evening, the stillness was broken by the sound of hooves. Peeping around the rock, Ustara spotted three Nepali men with donkeys carrying heavy loads on their backs. One of the gunny sacks was pointed at both ends, leaving no doubt that AK-47s had been rolled inside. Ustara shook Sapna, who had drifted off to sleep, and pulled out the German Mausers from his bag, loading the magazines and handing one to her. He also spotted a heavily-built, dark man walking behind the Nepalis, a detail that would prove crucial. Gesturing for Sapna to stand behind him, Ustara slipped out with her to face the men, pointing his gun at them as she did the same. The men were taken aback, looking at each other before one fearlessly came forward.

What followed was a sudden, violent reversal. Ustara's head exploded with pain as someone struck him from behind, and he fell to the ground face-first, managing to retain his grip on his gun. The huge man he had seen walking behind the others—who had apparently slipped away during the confrontation—stood astride him, swinging a lathi and kicking him hard in the stomach. The other men joined in, hitting Ustara with their lathis as he tried in vain to defend himself. In the chaos, he had completely forgotten about Sapna, and a wave of dread washed over him as he realized she was nowhere to be seen. Then, as one of the men hit him hard on the knees and his upper body lunged forward, his eyes fell on the donkeys—and there was Sapna, positioned awkwardly, having managed to slink away while the men had nabbed him.

Sapna later told Ustara what she had done. She had lifted her right leg and kicked the first donkey hard on its genitals, then done the same to the other two within the gap of a few seconds. The startled, pained donkeys instantly ran towards the men, braying, and the confusion of noise and sudden movement sent all four men scattering in different directions. Taking advantage of the situation, Sapna fired a bullet in the air. Ustara, ignoring the pain in his body, lifted himself to pick up his gun and fired at the man who had caught him off-guard, the bullet piercing his forearm. They now had the advantage. They forced the men to drop their lathis and tied them tightly to each other with rope. Ustara wanted to kill them, but Sapna pulled him away, and they left the men to fend for themselves, taking the donkeys with them.

The Destruction of the Consignment

When they reached an isolated region in the dense mountains of Birganj, almost 3,000 metres above sea-level, they slit open the gunny sacks to discover four pistols and three AK-47s. Ustara, his voice hoarse with pain and his clothes soaked with blood from the wounds inflicted on him, immediately saw the profit: they could go to Kolkata and sell the weapons to the underworld there, making huge profits. Sapna's response was flat and angry: she had no intention of making money with this crap. When Ustara protested, she declared, 'No one is going anywhere,' and threw the entire weaponry, packed in one sack, over the side of the cliff. When Ustara, irritated and upset at the loss of lakhs of rupees, told her they had caused Dawood nothing significant, Sapna's expression changed. She came up to him and, for the first time, touched his face with her soft hands, apologizing for putting him through it all and thanking him. The gesture was a rare moment of tenderness between two hardened criminals, underscoring the bond forged in the mountains.

Consequences and Significance

The heist's immediate consequence was the destruction of a valuable arms consignment, a blow to Dawood's network that was, as Ustara admitted, not yet significant enough to alarm the don. But its deeper significance lay in what it revealed about Sapna. She was a woman who dared to stand up against Dawood, a rare figure in a world where women were expected to be silent and subservient. Her refusal to profit from the weapons was a moral stand, a rejection of the very economy of violence that sustained the mafia. This defiance, however, sealed her fate. The heist marked her as a target, and the brutal manner of her eventual death—over twenty-two stab wounds, with four specifically targeted at her private parts, a grisly message of warning to other women not to dally with the mafia—was a direct response to her audacity. The heist thus stands as a testament to Sapna's courage and her tragic end, a story that the book's author cites as evidence that it is much easier to be a Dawood Ibrahim than a woman who dares to challenge him.