Push to put Dawood’s Khed assets on block

Mateen.Hafeez@timesgroup.com 

 

Mumbai: Barely two weeks after underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar’s flat was auctioned for Rs 1.8 crore here, the anti-smuggling agency wants to put the remaining 14 properties in the name of Haseena and her mother in their native town, Mumbke, a village in Khed in Ratnagiri district, on the block.

The properties include a ground- plus-two-storey bungalow where Dawood was a frequent visitor and a plot allocated for a petrol pump (in the name of Haseena). The authorities under the Smuggling and Foreign Exchange Manipulator’s Act (Safema) have written to the district valuation officer (DVO) in Pune to evaluate the price of the 14 properties. All the properties registered in the name of Dawood’s family are said to have been bought with proceeds of crimes.

While two properties in Khed are registered under Haseena’s name, the remaining are in the name of Dawood’s mother Amina Bi. The bungalow land was bought by Dawood’s father, Ibrahim Hasan Kaskar, who retired as head constable from Mumbai crime branch. Dawood and his siblings, who stayed in Mumbai’s Pakmodia Street, used to visit the bungalow, built in the mid-80s, frequently and stay for weeks. It has been lying vacant since 1993, when most of the Dawood family members fled India after the serial blasts killed 257 in the city. Dawood had left in the late 80s.

In 2016, Mumbke’s village panchayat had declared the bungalow a dilapidated structure. There was a proposal to turn it into a school for village children but it didn’t work out due to the shaky structure. It has become quite notorious, and people take selfies with the bungalow, said a source.

Safema sources said they want the auction this year and have sped up the process. After evaluation, a detailed report will be sent to them. The auction will be advertised in newspapers. “We still don’t know the total value of these properties. It will be clear once we get the report,” said an officer.

After the properties were confiscated under Safema, show cause notices were issued and the Dawood family challenged the confiscation all the way up to the Supreme Court, but lost the cases. “The Dawood family could not prove before the courts that the money used to buy these properties were earned through legal means,” said an officer.

The authorities welcomed the participation of several bidders for the Dawood properties. “Earlier, people were scared. Now they are coming forward and it’s a sign that the fear factor is vanishing,” said a source.

The Times of India, April 23, 2019

Nagpada flat owned by Dawood’s sister auctioned for Rs 1.8 crore

Mateen Hafeez I TNN 

Apr 2, 2019, 04.30 AM IST

MUMBAI: A 600 sq ft flat belonging to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar in Nagpada was sold for Rs 1.8 crore in a public auction at the Y B Chavan auditorium in south Mumbai on Monday. This is the fifth property allegedly earned through proceeds of Dawood’s crime that has been auctioned in the last two years.

The flat occupying the first floor of the eight-storey Gordon Hall Apartments near the Nagpada police station was attached under the Smugglers And Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture Of Property) Act, 1976 (Safema), and was lying vacant for a couple of months since Parkar’s children had shifted. It’s the same building where Dawood’s younger brother, Iqbal Kaskar, was arrested on extortion charges by the Thane anti-extortion cell in September 2017.

Bidders for the flat were asked to deposit Rs 25 lakh as earnest money and taken for an inspection on March 25. The one who won submitted his bid in a sealed envelope, and the authorities refused to share his name citing safety concerns.

The flat had come under the scanner after Dawood decamped, and was forfeited. Parkar challenged it, but lost at every forum till the Supreme Court. She had failed to prove that the flat was purchased with money earned through legal sources. Her family had to vacate the flat after the SC order.

Parkar had shifted to the Gordon Hall flat after her husband Ismail was shot dead in the mid-80s by rival Arun Gawli’s gang. In 1995, Dawood avenged Ismail’s death by getting the suspects shot inside JJ Hospital. Parkar’s older son, Danish, met with an accident and died in 2007. She died in the flat when she was 55 after a heart attack on June 7, 2014.

“We have auctioned five different properties under Safema on Monday, including this flat. The base price for this 600 sq ft carpet area flat was 1.7 crore. Overall, we got around 20 to 25 bidders for all the five properties. The highest bid for this flat was Rs 1.8 crore and an individual won the bid,” said Hari Govind Singh, Competent Authority for Safema (Western Zone).

The flat, registered in Parkar’s name, is believed to be the place from where she ran her rackets. She was arrested in 2005 for extorting Rs 1 crore from a real estate agent, Vinod Avlani. A Delhi-based lawyer, Bhupendra Bhardwaj, who has been applying to buy Dawood properties for two years, failed to make it this time too.

The Times of India, April 2, 2019

3 gangsters held for extortion bid at bar

Mateen Hafeez





 

 

Mumbai: The anti-extortion cell of the crime branch has arrested three suspected members of the Suresh Pujari gang who allegedly fired at an Ulhasnagar wine shop and a Nalasopara beer bar recently and left “extortion notes“ for the staff.

Crime branch DCP Dilip Sawant said Raj Chauhan (25), Ali Khan (27) and their handler Sudhakar Khristopriya (52) were on Friday nabbed from Kurla, when they came there for a meeting to share among themselves the money earned through crime. Sawant said they had recei ved a tip-off about the meeting, after which a police team laid a trap for the gang members. The trio has been booked under the Arms Act.

“The gang had fired at a wine shop at Ulhasnagar on April 27 for extortion. On May 7, when the gang targeted a beer bar in Nalasopara, a bullet hit the cashier in the chest. He is undergoing treatment,“ said Sawant. A police source said that in the Ulhasnagar wine shop incident, the gang had instructed the shooter to fire at a staffer's chest, but the bullet hit a bottle creating panic among the people present there.

A police source said that opening fire, the gang would leave a chit, with the name `Suresh Pujari' written on it. “It was like a threat message for extortion,“ said Vinayak Vast, the police officer who headed the team to nab the trio. According to police, the gang resorted to this extortion tactic as the shopbar owners did not answer several phone calls ma de by Pujari.

The police have recovered a 7.65 bore pistol, two magazines, eight live cartridges, Rs 2.5 lakh and two motor bikes.“While Khan would ride the bike, Chauhan would open fire and throw a note at the victim.We are probing the source of fire arms and who their next target. Their interrogation will also help us to get details about Pujari,“ added an officer.

The Times of India, May 14, 2017





Man behind 60 illegal kidney transplants held

Sumitra Deb Roy & Mateen Hafeez





Mumbai: On the run for 12 years, one of Mumbai's notorious kidney racketeers, Shiva, was finally nabbed on Friday .He is accused of having facilitated over 60 illegal transplants from 1996 to 2003 involving some well-known private hospitals in the city.
Officers from Azad Maidan police station said they detained Shiva from Marine Lines. He had jumped bail within months of his arrest in 2004. “Shiva told us that he was here in search of a job after he ran out of money . He had been hiding in his hometown in Kolhapur ever since he jumped bail. We are verifying all the details. We have also called crime branch officials who had arrested him then,“ an officer said.

Shiva, who is 45 now, was accused of scouring for recipients and forging papers to establish a relationship between donors and recipients for approvals.
His interrogation is on.

We nabbed him on spe cific information. Once his identity is established as the same absconding accused, he will be handed over to the crime branch,“ an officer said.

Former police officer Dinesh Agrawal (58) still has clear memories of arresting Shiva for the first time from a dingy Malad hotel on December 18, 2003. Agrawal, then a police inspector with VP Road police station, recalled how they were on the lookout for more than a year before Shiva was netted with help from his angry mistress. Although the conman, who operated from 1996 till his arrest, was accused of masterminding more than 60 illegal transplants, police could establish only 20 cases.

Agrawal said they knew little about Shiva's whereabouts at that time, except that he would appear from nowhere and vanish into thin air. Drug addicts and homeless people were always his targets. “He would convince them they would be compensated by the government and it was a noble deed,“ the retired officer said.Shiva had told the police then that doctors would put him in touch with potential recipients. Once the blood group of donors matched, Shiva would also take care of their nutrition and overall health. The racket remained confined to the western suburbs, between Malad and Borivli.

“During interrogation, we learned that Shiva was a car cleaner at a leading south Mumbai hospital and gradually got into the business of selling blood. Over the years, with generous help from doctors, he picked up tricks of the kidney trade,“ said Agrawal.As the case grew bigger involving more players, it was transferred to the crime branch. Shiva was handed over to the crime branch on December 29. After obtaining bail, Shiva absconded. He has already been acquitted in one of the cases, while another is pending in court.

Sr health officer transferred
Assistant director of the Directorate of Health Services (DHS), Dr BK Kadam, currently under scanner in the Hiranandani kidney scam, has been transferred to Nanded. Head of DHS Dr Mohan Jadhav tried to underplay the transfer, saying it was not linked to the ongoing issue.

The Times of India, August 20, 2016

Cops want DNA samples of kin of gangster in Thai jail

Mateen Hafeez / TNN





Mumbai: The Mumbai crime branch has asked the Andheri metropolitan magistrate court for permission to collect DNA samples of the relatives of a wanted gangster, so that it can prove his Indian nationality to a Thai court and get him extradited to India.

 

Muzakkir Husain aka Munna Jhingada, a D-gang member, is serving time in a Thai prison for the murder attempt on Chhota Rajan and for the killing of Rajan's aide Rohit Verma in 2000. While India has been trying to get Munna extradited here, Pakistan has been opposing its attempts. Islamabad claims he is a Pakistani citizen.

Police officers say Munna is a goldmine of info on the Dgang, which could explain the challenges to his return to India. They say Munna's family home is in Jogeshwari. He entered the underworld in 1996 and soon became a hitman for Chhota Shakeel. He was arrested in 1997. Following his release, he fled the country.

On Shakeel's orders, the police say, Munna led a team of five men from Pakistan to Thailand to kill Rajan in 2000. Rajan survived the gun attack, but his aide Verma died. When the Thai police arrested Munna, he told them he was a Pakistani national and gave his name as Mohammed Salem. About 10 years later, Islamabad claimed Salem was a Pakistani citizen and should be extradited there. To support its claim, Pakistan submitted “forged papers“, including a Pakistani passport.

Indian authorities say they had long ago provided Thailand Munna's personal details, photos, fingerprints and list of crimes. Based on the info, the Thai government had indicated to them that it will extradite him to India after his jail term.

Bangkok had communicated this to CBI through Interpol in 2012; the same year a Mumbai police team had visited Bangkok. It is to bolster their assertion of Munna's Indian nationality that cops recently asked to collect his kin's DNA samples.

“The court order is awaited,“ said joint commissioner of police (crime) Sadanand Date.

The Times of India, June 11, 2014

Salem’s extradition still valid, CBI can drop 6 charges against him: SC

Dhananjay Mahapatra & Mateen Hafeez TNN

New Delhi/Mumbai: The Supreme Court on Monday deftly stepped around a possible conflict with the Portuguese Supreme Court by allowing CBI to drop six charges under anti-terror law TADA, Explosives Act and Arms Act against Mumbai serial blasts accused Abu Salem while maintaining that his extradition to India remained unaffected by the adverse rulings of Portuguese courts. 

    “It is vividly clear that the order of extradition (against Salem) dated March 28, 2003, still stands valid and effective in the eyes of law,” a bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and J Chelameswar said. It also vacated the February 17, 2012, stay on trial against Salem in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
    Saba Qureishi, Salem’s lawyer, said, “We will approach the European Court soon.”
 
    The SC bench was of the view that though the top Portuguese courts found India had breached the assurances it had given while seeking Salem’s extradition, Union of India was not directed to return the gangster who was arrested in Lisbon while travelling with a Pakistani passport on an assumed name.
 
    Justice Sathasivam said, “This delivery of individuals to a requesting sovereign is usually based on treaties or bilateral agreements but sometimes it also occurs by reciprocity and comity as a matter of courtesy and goodwill between sovereigns as in this case. Therefore, ‘world public order’ is the recurring theme based on which the extradition is practised by the states,” the CJI added.
 
    Given the repeated assertions from Salem that the extradition stood revoked by the rulings of the Portuguese Supreme Court followed by the concurrence of their constitutional court, the bench said both India and Portugal were two sovereign states with efficient and independent judicial systems.
 
    “As a consequence, in unequivocal terms, the verdict by the Constitutional Court of Portugal is not binding on this court but only has persuasive value,” Justices Sathasivam and Chelameswar said.   The apex court had earlier said that all charges filed against Salem held good. However, it decided to accept the CBI’s request made through attorney general G E Vahanvati for dropping of additional charges slapped on Salem in the hope that it would harmonize its own decision with that of Portuguese courts.

    The court had earlier held that since the additional charges attracted lesser punishment than the charges for which Salem was extradited, it was perfectly legal for the trial court to frame the additional charges.  On Monday, it recorded the AG’s assurance that the agency was in the process of withdrawing other charges pending in various states against Salem, which are claimed to be in violation of the extradition order. 
    Meanwhile, last week, Salem’s lawyer had filed an application in the TADA court in Mumbai stating he was feeling insecure in any jail and that he should be transferred to the Portugal embassy in Goa. A history sheeter, Devendra Jagtap alias JD, was arrested for shooting at Salem on June 27 in Taloja prison. Salem sustained wounds on his fingers. Qureishi added that the Delhi high court has instructed dropping of the MCOCA charges against Salem in a 2002 extortion case, but the trial is still on for the past two years. 

 
CHARGES, TRIAL & CASE SO FAR SALEM MOVES LISBON HIGH COURT
 
ABU SALEM’S PLEA Transfer him to a Lisbon jail
 
HIS EXTRADITION IN 2005 Salem and his then companion, actor Monica Bedi, were extradited to India on November 11, 2005. Salem was arrested in eight cases, including the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. India had assured Portugal of no charges entailing death penalty or imprisonment of more than 25 years
    Salem filed a petition in the Lisbon High Court, alleging violation of the ‘Rule of Speciality’. In a September 19, 2012, ruling, Lisbon court said there had been a breach of the undertaking given by India
    Salem sought closure of trial against him in various courts here after Portugal Supreme Court upheld the order of a lower court, terminating his extradition for “violation” of deportation rules by Indian authorities
 
SUPREME COURT STAYS TRIAL The Supreme Court stayed the trial after he approached the apex court against TADA court’s order of January 31, 2013, rejecting his plea for closure
 
SHOT IN JAIL Salem was shot at in Taloja’s high security anda cell by another inmate, Devendra Jatap alias JD, on June 27, 2013. He sustained wounds on his fi ngers
 
FEELING ‘INSECURE’ Last week, Salem’s lawyer filed an application in the TADA court in Mumbai stat- ing he was feeling “insecure in jail” and that he should be transferred to the Portugal embassy in Goa
 
SC RULING The Supreme Court on Monday allowed CBI to drop six charges under antiterror law TADA, Explosives Act and Arms Act against Abu Salem while maintaining that his extradition to India remained unaffected

The Times of India, August 6, 2013

Gangster Abu Salem wants to be shifted to Portuguese embassy

Abu Salem

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Exactly a month after an attempt on his life at the Taloja prison, extradited gangster Abu Salem on Monday filed an application before the special TADA court seeking directions to the jail authorities that he be moved to the Portuguese consulate in Goa or embassy in Delhi. 

    Jail authorities said they planned to shift Salem but wanted to ensure there was no untoward incident in the other prison. Salem said in the application that Taloja officials received an order to transfer him to the Thane jail. “The applicant (Salem) may be transferred to the Portuguese Embassy till a final decision is taken on the issue of repatriation to Portugal post-termination of an extradition order in the interest of justice,” read the application filed by Ansari through his lawyer, Rashid Ansari. The application prayed to court that Salem not be transferred to any other jail “in the interest of justice since the risk to his life is on a higher scale in other jails”. 

    “Salem has several cases against him and has to be produced before court. Earlier, he was in Arthur Road jail, where a clash was reported between him and D-gang member Mustafa Dossa. Salem has reportedly told some cops that he did not feel secure in the Thane jail too. We are exploring options since the security of all inmates is our responsibility,” a senior prison department official said.
    CCTV cameras have been installed at Taloja jail’s anda cell as gangster Devendra Jagtap had hidden his pistol in a loudspeaker there. 

    “A camera will certainly exert psychological pressure on inmates and they will think twice before committing a crime,” an official said. All jails where hardened criminals are kept are engaged in psychological profiling of inmates. “It will help cops maintain tighter security,” he said.
 

THE SHOOTING INCIDENT
Abu Salem was shot at twice in a high-security anda cell by another inmate, Devendra Jagtap, with a country-made revolver at Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai
Only one bullet hit the extradited gangster’s finger
Jagtap reportedly hid the revolver in a loudspeaker in the prison
He has seven to eight cases against him, including three to do with murders
The Dawood gang dominates the Thane, Arthur Road, Kalyan and Taloja jails
Most Chhota Rajan shooters are reportedly housed in the Thane jail  

 

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING
All jails which house hardened criminals are engaged in this. Details include an inmate’s
crimes, his gang and who he interacts with often

The Times of India, July 30, 2013

JD hid gun in jail loudspeaker for 2 months: Police

Mateen Hafeez & S Ahmed Ali TNN

Mumbai: Devendra Jagtap alias JD, who last week shot at extradited gangster Abu Salem inside the Taloja prison, had kept his weapon hidden in a jail loudspeaker for two months, said the police on Friday. 

    JD told the Navi Mumbai crime branch that he sharpened a spoon and used it as a screwdriver to open the loudspeaker, through which announcements are made to inmates in the anda cell. So far, the police have arrested JD for attempt to murder and the supplier of the weapon, Manoj Lahmane. Fugitive gangster Chhota Shakeel is believed to have hired JD for the job.On the night of June 27, JD fired twice at Salem. The first bullet hit Salem’s fingers, the next hit a cupboard. As JD pulled the trigger a third time, the revolver got jammed and he was overpowered by the jail constables. 

    “JD had also looked for a chance to eliminate Salem twice before, but could not succeed since jail officials were patrolling the anda cell’s corridor on both occasions,” a police officer said.  The officer said JD took just a minute to open the speaker and hide the gun. “It’s very strange how he did it,” the officer said. 

    After the first bullet injured him, Salem reacted fast and hid behind the cupboard in his cell.
    “Salem told us that he suspected there would be an attempt to kill him and so he covered his cell with cardboard and other material,” deputy police commissioner of the Navi Mumbai crime branch Shrikant Phatak said.  Police officers said JD was now frustrated as he would be under a strict vigil and his image had also taken a beating in the Dawood gang after failing to kill Salem.
 

Failed 2012 plan to murder Salem 

 Devendra Jagtap alias JD has told the police that Chhota Shakeel last year hired a contract killer from the Arthur Road jail to kill Abu Salem, but the plan failed. “Shakeel got the contract killer transferred to Taloja jail, but he could not execute the plan. Later, Shakeel selected JD for this job,” an officer said.

The Times of India, July 6, 2013

Gun supplier in Salem jail attack case nabbed

S Ahmed Ali & Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The city crime branch on Tuesday picked up the alleged supplier of the country-made gun used by Devendra Jagtap alias JD for last week’s attack on gangster Abu Salem inside Taloja Jail. 

    Manoj Lahmane was nabbed in Panvel by the antirobbery cell of the city crime branch, which is conducting a parallel probe into the attack that left Salem injured. A team led by assistant commissioner of police Praful Bhosle caught Lahmane after a tipoff, said sources. 

    Joint commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Roy said Lahmane was questioned. Lahmane will be handed over to the Navi Mumbai police on Wednesday.  He allegedly supplied Rs 2 lakh and a country-made revolver to JD a few days before the shooting on Thursday. 

    JD had told the police that gangster Chhota Shakeel believed Salem was in contact with rival gangster Chhota Rajan. Sources said Lahmane was a key link between the shooter, JD, and Shakeel, who hatched the conspiracy to kill Salem.   During his interrogation, JD told the police that a month-and-half prior to the attack he had given Shakeel’s cell number to Lahmane and asked him to contact him.
 

    “Lahmane contacted Shakeel, who ordered a middleman to give Rs 2 lakh and an imported revolver to Lahmane,” an officer of Navi Mumbai crime branch said. “The middleman gave the money, but supplied a country-made revolver instead of an imported one. We are zeroing in on this middleman.”
 

    The police on Tuesday grilled JD’s wife, Harshada, to find out if she had received money from Lahmane, who is a close friend of JD and, like him, a Mulund resident. On the day of the attack, Harshada and JD’s associate Karan had met JD at a sessions court where he had been brought for a hearing in the advocate Shahid Azmi murder case. 

    JD had pulled the trigger on Salem three times; one bullet missed, the second hit Salem on the hand, and the third did not fire as the trigger of the revolver jammed. Salem in his complaint said he believed 1993 blasts accused Mustafa Dossa, who had attacked him in Arthur Road jail in 2011, could be behind in the latest attack as well. 

 
Doorframe detector at Arthur Road jail

 Four days after the attack on Abu Salem in Taloja jail, the Arthur Road jail installed a doorframe metal detector and devices to detect explosives and arms at the entrance gate. The proposal to instal the devices to prevent smuggling of arms was pending for a year-and-a-half. 

 

The Times of India, July 3, 2013

‘Shakeel paid 5L for foreign gun but shooter got desi weapon’

Salem attacker JD at Thane hospital

S Ahmed Ali & Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Fugitive gangster Chhota Shakeel apparently paid a middleman around Rs 5 lakh to supply an imported weapon to Devendra Jagtap alias JD to kill Abu Salem. But the middleman passed on a country-made revolver, worth Rs 20,000 only, and the gun got jammed as JD shot at Salem, said a source.
 

    Last Thursday, J D fired three rounds at Salem inside Taloja jail. While one bullet missed the gangster, the second one hit him on his hand and for the third bullet, the trigger of the country-made revolver got jammed. “Our sources said Rs 5 lakh and above was paid to the middleman 15 to 20 days in advance. But the middleman thought that when a country-made weapon could do the job, why spend Rs 2 or 3 lakh for a sophisticated gun,” said an officer. J D had told the Navi Mumbai crime branch that the hit was ordered by Shakeel and the weapon was supplied by Manoj Lahmane, whom the police are trying to trace. The officers hope that Lahmane might shed light on the middleman.
    

Still trying to ascertain the motive behind the attack, the crime branch on Monday picked up JD’s wife, Harshada, from her mother’s home at Dombivli and questioned her about her meeting with her husband on the fateful day. On Thursday, Harshada, along with JD’s associate Karan, met the accused at the sessions court where he was brought for a hearing in the advocate Shahid Azmi murder case. The police rubbished reports that on that day, the accused had celebrated his mentor Santosh Shetty’s birthday.
    

As Shakeel has claimed the responsibility for the attack, the city crime branch’s anti-extortion cell summoned Dawood’s brother Iqbal Kaskar, Shakeel’s brother-in-law Saleem Fruit and D gang man Ahmed Langda for questioning. “Kaskar has given his statement and the two others will be called on Tuesday,” said a crime branch officer.
    

Salem, meanwhile, missed his train to Hyderabad where he was supposed to attend a hearing in a fake passport case. He was brought to JJ Hospital for medical test, but from there, he could not be taken to the station on time owing to heavy rain and traffic jam. “His hearing in a fake passport was slated for Tuesday but he missed the train. After the attack, jail officials also want to review the security on trains,” said the police.
 

Shetty lawyer rubbishes gangster’s b’day angle

 Gangster Santosh Shetty and ’93 blasts accused Mustafa Dossa have denied being involved in the attack on Abu Salem. “Reports that gang members celebrated Santosh Shetty’s birthday on Thursday and that the weapon used to attack Salem was smuggled into Taloja jail along with cake and eatables are false. Shetty’s birthday is on March 31. Moreover, he disowned Jagtap alias JD one-and-a-half years ago and Salem and Shetty are good friends,” said Shetty’s lawyer Rajesh Srivastav. He also said on Thursday, Shetty did not attend a hearing in court and stayed back at Arthur Road jail. Srivastav, also appearing for Dossa, made an application saying the police should probe the case as Salem might try to implicate the blasts accused, owing to their previous enmity. “Dossa’s custody may not be handed over to the police without properly verifying the allegations,” he said. Taloja jail officials have submitted areport to special TADA judge Y D Shinde, chronicling the attack. TNN

The Times of India, July 2, 2013

Salem assailant squeals on mentor Santosh Shetty

 

Attacked Gangster May Be Moved To Byculla Jail

 

S Ahmed Ali & Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Devendra Jagtap alias JD is believed to have spilled the beans about the involvement of his mentor, Santosh Shetty, in the plot to kill underworld don Abu Salem inside Taloja jail.
 

    Investigators suspect that Santosh had taken a ‘supari’ (contract) from Dawood Ibrahim’s aide Chhota Shakeel. TOI was the first to report about the involvement of the D-gang in the hit. 

    Jagtap is believed to have told the police that although the plot was hatched earlier, it was executed on Santosh’s birthday which was celebrated on sessions court premises on Thursday. Jagtap promised Shetty that he would deliver “good news late in the evening” on the fateful day.  A man named Mirza is believed to have acted as a gobetween and facilitated Santosh’s entry into Chhota Shakeel’s circle after Bharat Nepali’s killing in 2010.   Jagtap revealed that Santosh moved away from Vijay Shetty and the latter has no role to play in the shooting.
 

    The city crime branch, which is conducting a parallel investigation, on Saturday evening interrogated Santosh inside Arthur Road jail. The Navi Mumbai police are likely to send a team on Sunday to take custody of Santosh. Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai crime branch feels the firearm that was used to fire at Salem was smuggled into the jail minutes before the firing. A subinspector and nine constables from the Navi Mumbai local arm unit are under the scanner. The policemen had escorted Jagtap and three other accused to the sessions court at Kala Ghoda. “The team took the four accused in a police van from the jail around 11am and headed for Mumbai. Jagtap had a court hearing in connection with the murder of advocate Shahid Azmi. Jagtap later met his wife and three aides. We suspect that the weapon changed hands at this stage,” said a police officer. On Saturday, the Navi Mumbai crime branch questioned four constables in the escort team. 

 

The statements of the five prison constables who had frisked Jagtap were recorded. A report in the breach of security case is likely to be submitted to the state government by Wednesday. Jagtap and Salem were housed away from each other in jail, said sources. “Jagtap began talking to Vishwanath Shetty, an accused lodged in a cell adjacent to Salem’s. Jagtap then pulled out a pistol and started firing,” said a police officer.
 

    Vishwanath is facing trial for killing Farid Tanasha, a Chhota Rajan aide. The police are trying to find out what transpired between him and Jagtap. “The prison manual stipulates that an anda cell inmate has to be dropped to his cell by a policeman and then locked up. This rule was flouted and no policeman accompanied Jagtap,” said a source. A source also said that Salem could be shifted to the women’s prison in Byculla

The Times of India, June 30, 2013

In 2011, cops foiled shooter’s daring attempt to flee court

Devendra Jagtap alias JD

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Devendra Jagtap alias JD, who fired two rounds at underworld don Abu Salem, had planned his own escape from the sessions court two years ago. Two of Jagtap’s aides, who were armed with weapons had entered the court in April 2011, had been nabbed before they could execute their plan.
 

    “Jagtap had hatched a plot on the lines of Feroz Kokni’s escape from J J Hospital in 1999,” said a police officer. Feroz Sargurouh alias Feroz Kokni, a shooter for the D-gang, was arrested by the city crime branch in connection with the murder of BJP leader Ramdas Nayak in 1995. 

    While Kokni was being taken to hospital along with another accused, Salim Beg, for a check-up his aidesfired at the cops escorting the two. Constable B D Kardile was killed in the firing and another died later. Kokni headed for Sandhurst Road station on a bike and later fled to Dubai via Nepal. Investigators found that Kokni’s father, Abdullah, had put the escape plan together. Abdullah and his two sons, sub-inspector Satish Gawte and constable Surya Sawant were arrested for aiding and abetting Kokni’s flight. Zahoor Markanda, an aide of Kokani who helped him escape on the bike, was killed in a police encounter. 

In Jagtap’s case, his accomplices, Karan alias Munna and Shetty, were intercepted by the police. “A loaded pistol was recovered from them,” said an officer. The two used to work for slain gangster Bharat Nepali. Jagtap has around six cases against him, including three murders. He was arrested in 2010 for killing advocate Shahid Azmi, at the behest of Bharat Nepali.

The Times of India, June 30, 2013

With eye on recruitment, gangs fight for dominance in state jails

Govt Attempts To End War In Prisons Fail 

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

    The brazen attack on Abu Salem on Thursday has yet again turned the spotlight on the continuing wars being fought by the underworld in the state’s prisons from outside. To tackle the problem, the state prison authorities have repeatedly moved gangsters from jail to jail, but the measure has yielded little result.
 

    Prisons, say former inmates, are key recruitment grounds for organized crime syndicates, who are willing to pay hefty amounts to new inductees. The Chhota Shakeel gang, which is considered the most powerful in state prisons, is now enlisting from all sections of criminals, recruiting even robbers and petty offenders. To no surprise then, there have lately been many stabbing and shooting incidents involving the underworld in jails.
 

    Sources said the attempt on Salem’s life may have been a tactic of the Shakeel gang to establish its monopoly in Maharashtra’s prisons. “Dawood gang members have always believed that Salem is working against their interests in prisons. They believe that Salem tips off the police about their activities. The same claim was also made when Dgang member Mustafa Dossa assaulted Salem three years ago in Arthur Road jail,” said a police source.
 

    Given the increasing underworld activity in jails, security agencies fear the state’s prisons are becoming hotbeds from where crime is plotted. A few years ago, a D-gang member deported from the UAE was arrested for trying to extort Rs 10 crore from a stockbroker. The broker was an accused in a Rs 50-crore fraud being investigated by the economic offence wing. “Soon after a rich man who is alleged to have committed a fraud enters jail, info about his offence reaches the seniors. The seniors then either demand money or ask him to work for them,” said a source.
 

    In August 2005, Chhota Rajan aides Vicky Malhotra, Fareed Tanasha and two others quarrelled with D-gang members Saleem Shaikh and Ehtesham in jail. The two sides pelted bricks at each other. While no gangster was hurt, a cop sustained severe head injuries. 

 
Times View: Clean up the prison system
    The bullet may have hit Abu Salem but it has blown the cover off what actually happens inside the state’s prisons. This incident shows that money and connections can get anything done – and that includes smuggling in of firearms – in our prisons. The government needs to sanitise the system. An intelligent transfer policy, where prison staff do not have the chance to get too friendly with inmates, can help. 

The Times of India, June 29, 2013

Gun smuggled in after party in court

Mateen Hafeez & S Ahmed Ali TNN

Mumbai: Police sources said the hit on Abu Salem might have been ordered by Dawood Ibrahim aide Chhota Shakeel through Vijay Shetty, who is reported to be operating out of Malaysia. The D-gang, officers added, wants Salem dead because it believes he is passing information on its members to Dawood’s bete noire Chhota Rajan. 

    Shakeel owned up to the murder bid in a phone conversation with TOI: “After Bharat Nepali’s death, JD came in contact with me (through Vijay Shetty) and we had a tie-up. Salem escaped this time, but we will not spare him. He ditched bhai (Dawood) and joined hands with our foe (Rajan) and tried to take control of the gang in the past. Our enemy’s friend is our enemy.”  The first round fired by Jagtap grazed the extradited gangster’s right hand; the second missed as Salem jumped behind a ‘cardboard cupboard’; and on the third attempt, Jagtap’s countrymade revolver jammed. As he stood steadfast, Jagtap was overpowered by policemen.
 

    The Taloja police have registered a case of attempt to murder against 38-year-old Jagtap and filed a plea for his custody in a Navi Mumbai court. Sources said Jagtap, a professional killer, was promised Rs 5 lakh for Salem’s planned assassination. Salem, who is in jail in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts and several murders, was taken to J J Hospital and after treatment ferried back to Taloja prison.
 

    Meanwhile, on Friday, various theories emerged on the motive behind the murder bid and on how Jagtap managed to smuggle a gun into the jail. According to one theory, the firearm was delivered “two months ago by an undertrial, Manoj Lahne, lodged at Taloja jail and hidden by Jagtap”. Navi Mumbai police commissioner A K Sharma said the weapon was smuggled into the jail some days ago, while another officer maintained: “Four days back, Jagtap’s cell was searched but nothing improper was found.” 

    Another theory, based on his interrogations, held that Jagtap was passed the revolver on Thursday when he visited Mumbai sessions court for a hearing. At the court, sources said, Jagtap met “his gang boss, Santosh Shetty”, who was extradited from Thailand in 2011 over charges of murder and extortion. Shetty reportedly celebrated his “birthday at the court premises and distributed cake”. Jagtap might have smuggled the gun into the jail, sources said, either by strapping it to his leg or with the cake. The Navi Mumbai crime branch is probing the claim that Jagtap also met his wife and three others at the court.  Jagtap entered the underworld under ganglord Bharat Nepali and after Nepali’s killing shifted loyalties to Vijay and Santosh Shetty. 

    Meanwhile, state home minister R R Patil said additional director general (prisons) Meeran Borwankar will hold a probe into the murder bid on Salem. “Responsibility will be affixed and stringent action, including dismissal, taken against those found guilty.” Patil had a closed-door meeting with ATS chief Rakesh Maria on Friday morning and in the evening with Borwankar.  Borwankar conceded that security at Taloja jail had been breached. Its anda cell had no CCTV cameras, unlike many jails in the country. 

    An old inmate at Taloja jail, Jagtap has a good rapport with the guards there. “This is the reason he was not frisked properly at the jail gate and the gate of the anda cell, where he was lodged. On nearing Salem’s cell, he hurled abuses at the don and opened fire.” said an officer.  

Lawyer to seek repatriation C ontending that Abu Salem has not been protected as was promised to Portugal during the gangster’s extradition, his lawyer has said they will move the European nation for his repatriation. Lawyer Saba Qureshi told PTI that one of the conditions of Salem’s extradition was that he would be protected. “This condition stands violated as he has been attacked inside a jail. We plan to seek the intervention of the authorities in Portugal to have Salem repatriated.” Salem, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, was extradited from Portugal on November 11, 2005, after a prolonged legal battle. TNN 

 Security audit at jail T he prison authorities are conducting a “security audit” at Taloja jail after an attempt on Abu Salem’s life. Many changes in the security system are likely soon, said officers. Taloja houses many hardened gangsters, among them Salem aide Mehdi Hasan, D-gang member Riyaz Siddiqui, former MLA Arun Gawli and others convicted of the murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamalakar Jhamsandekar. TNN 

The Times of India, June 29, 2013

Salem escaped this time, but we’ll not spare him: Shakeel

4 Staffers Of Taloja Jail Suspended

Mateen Hafeez & S Ahmed Ali TNN

Mumbai: A day after underworld don Abu Salem was shot at in Taloja jail, a red-faced state government instituted an inquiry and suspended four prison staffers, including a jailor, for dereliction of duty. Around 8pm on Thursday, Salem was fired at by Devendra Jagtap alias JD in the prison’s high-security ‘anda cell’. 

    On Friday, various theories emerged on the motive behind the murder bid and on how Jagtap managed to smuggle a gun into the jail. Police sources said the hit might have been ordered by Dawood Ibrahim aide Chhota Shakeel through Vijay Shetty, who is reported to be in Malaysia. Shakeel told TOI that Salem had ditched ‘bhai’ (Dawood) by tying up with Chhota Rajan and that he wouldn’t be lucky the next time.

The Times of India, June 29, 2013

Abu Salem gets shot in the arm

Abu Salem at NMMC Hospital, Vashi, on Thursday night

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: A Bharat Nepali gang member, Devendra Jagtap, alias JD, fired a round on extradited gangster Abu Salem on the Taloja Jail premises late on Thursday. Salem was hit on the arm and was taken to hospital. The Kharghar police are probing how Jagtap managed to get hold of a firearm inside the jail.
   
 Sources said Salem was recently shifted from the highly guarded ‘anda cell’ to the general barracks. “Jagtap pulled out a revolver and fired at Salem after a heated argument. It seems to be a supari case,” said a source. Dawood Ibrahim’s lieutenant Chhota Shakeel has claimed responsibility for the attack on Salem.  

D-Gang behind attack, TOI told
    India’s most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim is behind the attack on Abul Salem. His right-hand man Chhota Shakeel said so in an exclusive phone conversation with TOI on Thursday night.  Jagtap is an accused in the killing of Chhota Rajan’s key man Farid Tanasha in Chembur in 2010. Originally from Mulund, Jagtap is involved in at least half a dozen cases. He joined the underworld with the Chhota Rajan gang, but shifted loyalties to the Nepali gang.
 
   “Salem’s statement is being recorded; Jagtap has been taken into custody by the Khargar police for attempt to murder. We are yet to reach a conclusion on what sparked the fight,” said an officer. Salem’s condition is said to be stable.
 
   Salem was transferred from Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail to Taloja in July 2010 after he fought with 1993 Mumbai blasts accused Mustafa Dossa, who is considered to be an unchallenged don in jails. Dosa had beaten up Salem and his cronies.
Inputs by S Ahmed Ali
 
PAST ATTACK ON SALEM
On July 25, 2010, Salem was assaulted by 1993 blasts accused Mustafa Dossa inside Arthur Road jail. Accusing Salem of ratting on him to the jail authorities, Dossa had attacked the gangster with a sharpened knife
 
BIG NAMES BEHIND BARS Situated 50km from Mumbai, the Taloja jail is home to several high-profile prisoners, including murder convict Arun Gawli, Chhota Rajan gang member D K Rao, D-gang’s deported member Riyaz Siddiqui, extradited gangster Abu Salem, 10 members of Abhinav Bharat gang, suspected to be involved in the 2008 Malegaon blast, more than 30 accused in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case, 5 accused in the 13/7 Mumbai blasts case and more than 20 members of Indian Mujahideen

The Times of India, June 28, 2013

Convict who jumped parole in 2006 held

FORMER MAYOR SHOOTING CASE

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The state ATS on Thursday arrested Abul Hasan Mistry (40), one of the three who had shot at former mayor Milind Vaidya in 1999. Mistry was convicted for life by a special Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) court. In 2006, however, Mistry jumped parole. 

 
    “We received information that he had come to Nalasopara to meet his wife and children. We picked him up on Thursday,” said ATS chief Rakesh Maria.
    

A total of eight persons were arrested for their alleged role in the shooting that took place in Mahim. The accused had used AK-47s. Seven persons were injured in the shooting. Three of the injured died later. Of the eight accused, six were convicted.
    

“Mistry was given life term and fined Rs 16 lakh. He came out on parol in 2006, but disappeared after that. While on the run, Mistry worked as a truck driver in places such as Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” said Maria. “Mistry was nabbed with a factory made revolver and three rounds. He has been booked under the Arms Act.”
    

Mistry has been remanded in police custody till September 27.   The Milind Vaidya case was the first conviction under MCOCA. 

 

The Times of India, September 22, 2012

Painter, cook or… Gawli gets to choose a job in jail

Arun Gawli

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: The once-dreaded don Arun Gawli, who will soon be shifted to Yerawada jail to serve his life sentence, could be assigned a job like any other convict.
 

    Convicts have to work as painters, carpenters, shoemakers, handloom-operators, cooks or tailors. The work that Gawli gets will depend on what he would be interested in doing. 

    Gawli, who had been acquitted in 48 criminal cases earlier, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday for his involvement in the murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamalakar Jamsandekar.
 

    In 1997, he was externed from Mumbai limits and stayed in Pune. He then floated his own political party, Akhil Bhartiya Sena and contested the MLA election. He won. However, he lost the legislator’s election in 2009 since he was in jail for the murder case. His daughter Geeta won the corporation’s election and is currently chairperson of the BMC’s health committee.
 

    As a murder convict, Gawli will wear a white uniform with black stripes and a white cap. Sources in Taloja jail said that Gawli will be shifted to Yerwada jail which houses the maximum convicts in the state. Taloja jail is meant for undertrial inmates. Now, Gawli will have to wash his two sets of convict’s clothes.
 

    Inmates convicted for an offence up to an imprisonment of three months are given a number beginning with alphabet ‘A’. Those convicted for between three months and five years are given the ‘B’ series and those for heinous crimes such as murder, the ‘C’ series.  

 

WORK CODE FOR CONVICTS
Convicts who get rigorous imprisonment are offered jobs such as carpentry and making carpets, which may end up in government offices They may help prepare food, which is also served to their fellow inmates Earlier, convicts had to break stones; now, they have to work inside jail premises where factories have been made for them According to jail manual, unskilled convicts are paid Rs 12.75 a day, semi-skilled convicts Rs 17 and skilled convicts Rs 25.50 as remuneration

The Times of India, September 2, 2012

First strike on ganglords with witness shield

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: The city police have had several successes in the past of trapping and arresting top gangsters like Ashwin Naik, Riyaz Siddiqui and Tarique Parveen in the past, but have not been able to nail them down in a single case.
 

    In fact, Arun Gawli had 49 cases against him since the 80s and he’s been convicted in only one. How did it happen?
 

    Crime branch chief Himanshu Roy attributes it to a witness protection effort, the first for the cops. “We did a covert protection programme for the witnesses in this case. This helped us a lot during the trial. The statements of the witnesses were sometimes in open court as well, but the police provided them complete protection,” Roy told TOI.
 

    Besides, there was due diligence in a bid to make a watertight case. “Since Gawli was arrested, the police have been very careful. We wanted to secure conviction in this case,” said a police officer.
 

    Earlier, in most of the cases related to the underworld or the organized crime syndicates, an accused would be acquitted because of lack of evidence or witnesses turning hostile. The police have been pressing for an official witness protection programme, but the state government is yet to take a decision on it, the officer said. Take the example of Iqbal Kaskar, younger brother of Dawood Ibrahim. He was deported from the UAE in 2003 and was tried for a murder and the illegal construction of the Sara-Sahara shopping complex at Crawford market. Kaskar was acquitted in both the cases — witnesses turning hostile in the murder case and lack of evidence in the other. 

    Likewise, Riyaz Siddiqui, a D gang member, suspected to be involved in a Bandra double murder case, was acquitted .
 

    Gangster Ashwin Naik was acquitted in January 2009 by a special MCOCA court of charges of murdering his wife, Neeta Naik, for lack of evidence. Neeta, a BMC corporator, was gunned down outside her house on November 13, 2003, allegedly at the behest of Naik who was lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
 

    Records show that of 23 suspected gangsters that police have laid their hands on — 22 were deported to India and one extradited — th e cops have so far secured convictions against only four and that too in a single case. They are Mustafa Dossa, Ejaz Pathan, Tariq Parveen and Anil Parab. Nine of the 23 were acquitted of all charges.
 

    In the past, the police have had to drop charges against Arif Aboobakar, the brother-in-law of Chhota Shakeel, in all extortion cases due to lack of evidence and witnesses. 

 

 

The Times of India, September 1, 2012

Dawood’s brother denies return plan

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s younger brother Mustaqueem Ali Kaskar has rubbished media reports that he wants to return to India because of a conflict with Dawood. 

    TOI is the first paper to talk to Kaskar who has been in the news over his supposed desire to return to India. “Why should I come to India? I don’t want to return to be killed or harassed,” Kaskar told TOI. “A section of the media reported that I had an argument with bhai (Dawood) and that I want to surrender before the UAE police so that I can return to India. Bhai has taken care of us like a father. He is my brother and if I have committed a mistake, I will apologize to him,” said Kaskar. “All the reports of my return are false. I am not returning India as of now.” 

    Kaskar, now 42, said he left India when he was 16. He studied up to class IX at Ahmed Sailor Urdu High School in Nagpada. This is the same school where Dawood and his siblings studied. 

    “My father took me and my brother Noora to Dubai to set up our business. Initially, I ran two boutiques but shut them down eventually. Now, I run my own garment factory,” he said.     Kaskar claims he is being portrayed as a criminal even though there are no criminal case against him. “I got married to girl from Uttar Pradesh. The video of my wedding was aired by a private news channel for two days. Is getting married a crime,” asked Kaskar. He has two daughters and two sons, all of whom are now studying in an English-medium school in Dubai. 

    Kaskar said, “My elder brother Iqbal returned to India only to spend four-and-a-half years in jail. Even today, he can’t roam around freely. His driver was killed driver last year. I don’t want to come to India to be killed.”
 

    There are times when Kaskar wants to come back. “Sometimes, I feel like visiting my parents’ grave. But I don’t want to invite trouble and that is why I have no plans to return to India,” he said. Talking about his current location, Kaskar said, “I am in Singapore. Travelling is my hobby.”
 

 

THE D CLAN: DON & HIS SIBLINGS
• Saeeda (dead)
• Sabir Ahmad (killed in1981)
• Dawood Hasan
• Nurul Haq alias Noora (Died in Pakistan)
• Iqbal Hasan (Stays in Nagpada)
• Anees Ahmad
• Haseena Ismail Parkar
• Zaitoon Antuley
• Farzana Tungekar
• Mumtaz Shaikh
• Mustaqeem Ali
• Mohammed Humayoon

The Times of India, July 5, 2012