By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, May 10
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at several premises in Mumbai and adjoining areas, linked to terror activities of the terrorist network of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar (D company) and detained a couple of people for interrogation on Monday.
“NIA conducted searches at 24 places in Mumbai commissionerate and 5 places in Mira Bhayander Commissionerate in a case (No RC 01/2022/NIA/Mum) registered suo moto by NIA on February 03, 2022”, the NIA stated.
“The case pertains to terror/criminal activities of the international terrorist network of D company involving Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and his associates including Haji Anees @Anees Ibrahim Shaikh, Shakeel Shaikh @ Chhota Shakeel, Javed Patel @ Javed Chikna and Ibrahim Mushtaq Razzaq Memon @Tiger Memon who are indulging in arms smuggling, Narco-terrorism, money laundering, circulation of Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) and are in unauthorized possession/ involved in the acquisition of key assets for raising terror funds and working in active collaboration with international terrorist organizations including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish e Mohammad (JeM), and Al Qaeda( AQ)” NIA said in a tweet.
“During the searches conducted today at premises of the suspected associates of Dawood Ibrahim, various incriminating materials including electronic devices, documents of investment in real estate, cash, and firearms were seized. Further investigation continues”, the NIA added.
In February, the NIA had registered a case about the involvement of top leadership and operatives of D-Company, many of them based abroad, in terror activities, organized crime, and acts aimed at creating unrest in India.
On Monday the raids were carried out in Parel, Nagpada, Bandra, Santacruz, Goregaon, Borivali, Mumbra (Thane), and in other areas against sharpshooters, drug traffickers, hawala operators, real estate managers of Dawood and other key players in the criminal syndicate. The NIA is monitoring the gamut of criminal and terrorist acts committed by members of the underworld network run by Dawood from his haven in Karachi, Pakistan.
Detained
The NIA picked up Salim Qureshi aka Salim Fruit, gangster Chhota Shakeel’s aide, from his residence in the Bhendi Bazar area of south Mumbai. Similarly, Suhail Khandwani, Managing Trustee Mahim Dargah & Haji Ali Dargah, was taken into custody. A few others were also taken into custody during the raids.
Salim Fruit was accused of running an extortion racket for Shakeel and Dawood abroad in the early 2000 and was deported to India by the UAE government in 2006. He was arrested in an extortion case related to Chhota Shakeel and was charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) along with others. He was in prison till 2010. In 2016, he was again arrested by the Anti-Extortion Cell of Mumbai police in connection with a case of threatening and demanding Rs 25 lakh extortion from a doctor in Central Mumbai. Fruit and his accomplice were arrested after the Crime Branch laid a trap in that case.
According to official sources, “D-Company has established a special unit for striking terror in the people of India by attacking eminent personalities in India including political leaders, businessmen, and others by using explosives, firearms and other lethal weapons and is planning to instigate and trigger incidents which may lead to the onset of violence in various parts of India, including National Capital Region, Mumbai and other major cities in India.
Dawood Ibrahim was designated as a global terrorist in 2003 by India and the United States, with a reward of US$25 million on his head for his alleged role in the March 12, 1993, serial bombing in Mumbai. He is also accused in multiple cases of extortion, murder, and smuggling.
More recently, the Pakistan government-sanctioned Dawood Ibrahim and 87 others for terror-related activities to evade being put on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list. The list is prepared by the FATF, an intergovernmental body formed to control money laundering. It was established in 1989 by the G 7 summit in France.
