He plans to appeal in HC

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: Gangster Anil Parab, convicted to life imprisonment for attempting to kill a witness inside a courtroom, has denied any links with Dawood Ibrahim.
A short, stocky man in his mid-40’s —- Parab used to be called ‘Vangya’ (Marathi for brinjal), a name that stuck even during media coverage of his trial until he filed an application requesting the judge to intervene — the gangster has decided to appeal against the judgment in the high court. Sitting on a bench in the Mumbai civil and sessions court corridors along with his daughters and other family members after the verdict, Parab appeared composed. Wearing a grey shirt and trouser with sports shoes, he also sported vermillion on his forehead.

“I was an auto driver and a passenger told me that he wanted to go to Andheri court. I drove my auto over there and went inside to see the court’s proceedings. In the courtroom when I was taking my kerchief out of my pocket, the policemen thought I was pulling a revolver and before I could have told them that it wasn’t a revolver, they fired at me. I sustained seven bullet injuries,’’ said Parab, narrating his version of the events that occurred inside the court in 1984.

According to him, five years after the alleged shootout, he moved to Dubai in search of better prospects and stayed on to run a business for nearly 14 years. “I was running my own electronics shop at Dera in Dubai,’’ he claimed.

So why was he deported to India? Pat come the answer. “I heard from some of my friends and relatives that the police had wrongly implicated me in several cases. I decided to come to India after staying in Dubai for 14 years,’’ he said.

Parab, who was deported from Dubai on April 21, 2003, insists that UAE authorities did not deport him —- he says he finally came to India “on his own’’.

When asked about his affiliation with Dawood Ibrahim, he said, “I am a patriot, Dawood is a traitor. When I told policemen that I am not affiliated with Dawood, police informed the jail authorities and I was kept separately from the Dgang and was given protection. I never worked with any gang.’’

The Times of India, November 7, 2006