Archana Sharma: The Untold Story of India's "Lady Don," the Underworld's Most Wanted Kidnapping Queen

THE TERM “UNDERWORLD” usually conjures images of a dark, eerie world ruled by scar-faced men with guns tucked into their waistbands. We picture syndicates run by dons with names like Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan — men, always men, calling the shots. But what if we told you that one of India's most feared extortion-and-kidnapping operations wasn't run by a man at all, but by a woman who worked her way to the top of the gang from the inside? Here's the story of Archana Balmukund Sharma — the underworld knows her as “Lady Don.”

Archana Sharma: From Aspiring Singer to Dubai Nightlife 

As a young lady, Archana Balamukund Sharma, daughter of retired police constable Balamukund Sharma, was a talented singer and performer. Originally hailing from Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain region, she made her entry into the showbiz industry by moving to Mumbai  — famously hailed as the entertainment capital of India — in the 1990s. Therein, the young hopeful starlet worked on a few music albums, and also worked on a film project with prominent Hindi actor Dev Anand.

Eventually, Archana became employed as a singer and stage artist with the Bavla Music party, The party was one of the top orchestra groups of that time, that performed frequently at international stages and venues. During one of the Bavla Music Party’s performances in Dubai, Archana came in contact with wealthy entrepreneur Pitambara Miglani. Miglani was enamored with Archana, the captivating yet ambitious singer, and soon their love culminated into the couple getting married in May 1995 in Dubai.

Being the wealthy entrepreneur he was, Miglani owned several high-value properties in Mumbai, one of them being a luxurious flat in Borivali. Upon learning that her husband already had a wife prior to marrying her, an enraged Archana fled back to Mumbai, and transferred the power of attorney of Miglani’s Borivali flat to herself. A deep crack developed in the couple’s marriage, Miglani snatched Archana’s passport, burned it, and left Archana, leaving her all alone.

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But Archana was steadfast, and if nothing else, ambitious. With the help of a close friend, Surjeet Singh Bala, she obtained a reference visa and moved back to Dubai in late 1995. Working at a club in Dubai, Archana came in contact with notorious Indian gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s former aide Babloo Srivastava, his henchman, Irfan Goga, and another gangster named Fazal-Ul-Rahman.

Babloo was formally associated with Dawood’s gang D-company, but eventually the gang split into two sects — one led by Dawood Ibrahim and the other by Babloo. Formally associated with Dawood, Irfan Gogo switched sides and joined the faction led by Babloo.

Meeting these dark figures of the underworld, Archana's life took a drastic turn, and thus began her life as a gangster marked by crime, kidnapping, and extortion. 

How Archana Sharma Got Involved With the Underworld 

Even though he was one of Babloo’s underlings, Irfan Goga was a feared and powerful figure in Dubai. A young Archana came into Goga’s notice, who seemed impressed by the woman’s appearance and speaking style. Goga asked Archana to join his crime gang, she eventually caved in and became a gangster. Afterwards, she began working as a receptionist at the Faluda Hotel in Dubai. During this period, Irfan tasked her with kidnapping prominent Indore businessman Jagdish Motiramwani. She carried out the operation so effectively that she soon earned the moniker “Kidnapping Queen.” 

In 1997, Babloo was arrested in Singapore and extradited to India. Irfan then took over the gang alongside Archana. Under Irfan Goga’s direction, Archana carried out a series of kidnappings across India. During this period, Irfan entrusted Archana with the kidnapping of prominent builder L.D. Vyas. 

Archana picked September 27, 1997, as the day for the abduction of L.D. Vyas. She first gained Vyas’s trust and tricked him into a flat. Straight after, Goga reached out to Archana and informed her that their “eldest brother” — Babloo Srivastava — would reach out to her and she should link him up with Vyas. It was the first time that Archana Sharma had met Babloo. Slowly, she began to understand that Irfan Goga was just a lower-level henchman and Babloo was the actual leader of the gang. These discussions went on and eventually Babloo directly spoke to Archana. Led by him, Archana was found to have played a key role in the kidnapping of several prominent industrialists such as Gautam Adani, Satish Shetty, Sagar Lakhtak, and Ramakant Dubey.

The Murder of Mirza Dilshad Beg: Archana Sharma’s Undoing

Now a full-fledged gangster with direct contact with Babloo Srivastava, Archana targeted the next man on her kill-list: Nepalese politician Mirza Dilshad Beg. Beg was an arms dealer and underworld figure, who was allegedly helping in the infiltration of Pakistanis in India. Babloo chose Archana to eliminate Beg and dispatched her to Nepal in 1998 along with three shooters — Farid Tanasha, Manjeet Singh Mange, and Satte.

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Archana was very calculating, and wanted to get closer to Beg so that she could bring him to her hide-out and have him killed. On June 29, 1998, Beg came to Archana's flat, with only his driver. Soon, Beg's car was approached by Manjeet Mange and Farid Tansha, who were both riding motorcycles. Before firing, Mange allegedly shouted at Beg, afterwards fired several rounds at Beg, killing him. Archana and Manjeet Mange later established their hide-out base in Gujarat, and lived posing as siblings.

Where Is Archana Sharma Now? 

Archana Balmukund Sharma has remained untraceable for the past 28 years and continues to be listed as “absconding” in government records. While some of her former associates believe she is dead, others claim that Archana, who gained notoriety as India’s “kidnapping queen” and was dubbed as the “Lady Don,” escaped to the United States and began a new life there.

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