Cops play it safe in ‘beerman’ probe

Mateen Hafeez | TNN
Mumbai: Faced with the prospect of embarrassment in court over the south Mumbai killings probe, the police seem to be playing it safe by not filing the chargesheet as they don’t have any clinching evidence against alleged serial killer Ravindra Kantrulu.

Reformed robber Kantrulu (36) was picked up by the police before being first booked for theft and later for four of the seven murders that took place from October 2006 to January this year. The police claimed to have recovered a blood-stained shirt and a chopper from where he lived. Kantrulu is lodged at the Arthur Road jail.

While the police successfully filed a chargesheet in mid-May in one of the four murders that took place on January 11 on a foot overbridge near the income tax office at Marine Lines, it failed to do the same in the second case, resulting in Kantrulu’s bail on Saturday.

Following the serial killings that shook south Mumbai, the city police formed a special investigating team comprising 450 personnel, which nabbed Kantrulu.

Trying to explain their position, deputy commissioner of police Brijesh Singh (zone-I), who headed the SIT, said, “The bail is in one of the cases we booked him. The 90-day limit is for entitlement to the accused for bail. The magistrate has no right to ask for an explanation as to why the police didn’t file the chargesheet.’’

A few police officials, after Kantrulu’s arrest, were happy to divulge information on the interrogation and the various tests conducted on him (like brain-mapping, polygraph, brain-electrical oscillation signature and psychological profiling). But they clammed up when other murders took place near the railway tracks after Kantrulu was arrested.

A new theory was floated then—”the murders could be the work of Kantrulu’s associates’’ and the “associates’’ included a taxi driver, a tour operator and a tantrik. But all efforts to solve the murders failed. At least three more kiilings took place after Kantrulu was picked up. The D B Marg police arrested another drug addict, Abdul Salam Shaikh, for the murders and chargesheeted him on May 18. But no link has been established between Kantrulu and Shaikh yet.

The police, who claimed to have “two witnesses’’, failed to pick up any of Kantrulu’s “associates’’ and were yet to establish the identity of six of the seven victims allegedly killed by the suspect. He was booked for the murder of an unidentified man that took place on October 25 near the Bombay Hockey Association at Churchgate and also for a killing that took place on December 25 near Rukhsana Apartment, under the jurisdiction of the Azad Maidan police.

Officials said Kantrulu’s brain-mapping report was positive and admissible in court. They also claimed Kantrulu spoke about his modus operandi during the narco analysis and how and why he chose and killed his “targets’’.
mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

Kantrulu

The Times of India, June 3, 2007

Malegaon’s new Front shows up old parties

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Malegaon: The unexpected success of a loose, threemonth-old coalition supported by religious and community leaders in Malegaon’s civic polls has exposed the disenchantment with mainstream parties like the Congress and veteran socialist Nihal Ahmed’s Janata Dal (Secular).

The people’s mandate to the Indian Muslim Congress Party (IMCP) comes at a time when the established parties have betrayed the faith of an electorate looking for solutions to systemic problems such as unemployment, a spiralling electricity crisis, lack of educational opportunities and decrepit civic infrastructure.

The Third Front led by the textile township’s most prominent religious leader, Mufti Mohammed Ismail, had contested the election with development and education as its primary planks and emerged as the single largest party with 28 out of the 72 seats.

On the other hand, Nihal Ahmed, a trade unionist who rose to become Malegaon’s most enduring political figure, has ended up suffering one of his worst political debacles in an over 50-year career. The onetime minister in the Maharashtra Cabinet has found his outfit’s tally reduced from 35 seats in 2002 to 12 in the latest municipal polls. His son was among those who lost the poll.

The other big loser is the Samajwadi Party whose tally has gone down from 12 seats in 2002 to one in the present House.

Even the Congress has been at the receiving end of the Malegaon voter’s wrath though the party’s tally has risen from seven in the last House to 15 now. The township’s reigning MLA, Sheikh Rashid, had managed to get his son Asif Sheikh installed as mayor the last time through blatant opportunism and by persuading rival corporators to support the Congress candidate in exchange for favours. However, despite such strategic moves, the party has not emerged as a dominant force in one of Maharashtra’s biggest Muslim-majority enclaves.

“The residents of Malegaon have been divided and exploited by these veteran politicians. Everyone promises better facilities but see how many public toilets Malegaon has. Look at the plight of the civic schools. There is not a single technical, engineering or medical college in Malegaon. Hundreds of our students have to go to Mumbai or Pune for further studies. We wanted to change this, and we couldn’t have done it unless we had power in our hands,’’ says 50-year-old Mufti Ismail.

The Mufti, who has led the congregation for the Eid-ul-fitr and Eid-ul-azha namaaz at the historic Camp ground in the town for the last one decade, was the rallying force behind the movement. Born and raised in a weaver’s family in the township, he’s long been familiar with its problems.

Yet, the Third Front’s rise has been nothing short of amazing. Community leaders and maulanas banded in the months ahead of the polls and discussed the need for an effective political alternative to govern the town. Disillusionment was especially strong in the wake of the serial blasts in 2006.

To start with, announcements were made in various mohallas to nominate the right candidates. Interestingly, the Third Front’s office-bearers played no role in this process; instead they asked residents of every constituency to select an “educated, honest and social person’’ untainted by a criminal record.

The only hiccup was when the Front’s leaders realised they were not recognised as a political party nor had they been allotted a symbol. They then approached their counterparts in an Ahmednagarbased outfit called the Indian Muslims’ Congress Party and managed to get permission to adopt their name and symbol just 15 days prior to the polls. Besides, there was an unambiguous consensus at work: caste, religion and intra-community disputes were to play no role in selecting a candidate. Most of the nominees were thus people with at least some academic qualification— a welcome change given Malegaon’s colourful history of illiterate, criminal and scam-tainted corporators. “We have got the sort of candidates we wanted. Now, in case a corporator does not work, we will hold a dharna outside his residence to make him fulfil his promises. And if he refuses, we will have no option but to oust him from the party,’’ Mufti Ismail said.

Hopefully, the Mufti and his followers, with the help of a few Independent corporators, will get the roads, parks and playgrounds they aspire for.

POWERLOOM POLLS
Malegaon, a powerloom township in northern Maharashtra, has always been in the news for the wrong reasons. Communal tension, sectarian violence, seizure of firearms and ammunition, and a series of bomb blasts. In a population of six lakh, Muslims are in a majority of 65%. The rest are Hindu Marwaris, Jains and Sindhis, who traditionally vote for the BJP-Sena. This year, for instance, the Sena has bagged seven seats while the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has captured two seats.

The conflict between powerloom labourers and their employers was the central theme in various elections until recently and allowed veteran socialist Nihal Ahmed ample scope to hold centrestage. Now, however, residents are keen to see a makeover of the town and find a solution for long-standing problems such as bad roads, power shortage, poor healthcare—Malegoan does not have a single civil hospital—and lack of adequate educational opportunities. TNN

The Times of India, May 30, 2007

Haseena case : cop maintains he is innocent. Says He’s Being Victimised

WRITES LETTER TO ACB CHIEF

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: Senior inspector Anil Mahabole, who is under the scanner of the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) in an alleged bribery case, on Monday wrote a letter to ACB directorgeneral of police J D Virkar, maintaining that he was innocent and was being victimised in the case.

The ACB summoned Mahabole and assistant inspector Rajendra Nikam on April 12, after it
arrested a builder Chandresh Shah, who, the agency said, had taken a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh on behalf of the two police officers to dilute a case involving him and seven others.

The ACB, in its report submitted to police commissioner D N Jadhav early this month, said Mahabole had replaced a phone when he was asked to deposit his two mobile phones. One of the deposited phones (with the number 9322171857) belonged to someone else and contained an SMS from a person called Danish, the ACB said. The message read: “D ko live karna kaliye Mahabole saab ne paise liya hey.’’ The ACB had said that it appeared that Mahabole was not using the phone. The agency said it was probing about Danish.

But, in his letter, Mahabole maintained that the phone belonged to him. He elaborated that Danish was a police informer working for the crime branch and the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) for over 10 years. Danish was paid Rs one lakh for a piece of information from the police secret fund but the information turned out to be false and he was asked to pay back the amount. Danish paid the Rs one lakh in cash to the crime branch (unit-I) and SMSed Mahabole that he had given the money, the letter stated.

The ACB, in its report, said that to settle a civil matter and recover money involved in the case, Shah and one Raju had sought crime branch’s help. But Mahabole, in his letter, said that during probe, the crime branch came to know that it was a criminal case. The crime branch officers never threatened Shukla or demanded money to dilute the case, he said. “We never called up Shukla or tried to contact him from this office,’’ he wrote. Shah and Baba Shukla, on whose complaint the ACB arrested the builder, were accused in the crime branch case.

The ACB also questioned why the crime branch gave to Shah, the summons issued against the three accused in the criminal case. Mahabole said, “The police handed over accused Shameem Qureishi’s summon to Shah since only he knew about the whereabouts of Qureishi. Baba Shukla also could not be contacted. Therefore. his summon was given to his nephew, Sandeep, in Shah’s presence. Hence, we obtained his signature along with Sandeep’s on the receipt of acknowledgement.’’

In response to ACB’s allegations that crime branch didn’t do any inquiry about Haseena, the officer’s letter said, “Our officers went to Haseena’s residence on March 6 but she was not there. On March 13, her daughter signed the summon letter. Meanwhile, we also sent a letter to senior inspector, Nagpada police station, asking to check if there was any case against Haseena. Moreover, we were checking the mobile phone records of all the accused.’’
mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, May 30, 2007

Parkar grilled on property, income

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar, an accused in an extortion and forgery case, was on Saturday thoroughly questioned about her properties, sources of income and her relationship with the co-accused in a case registered by the anti-extortion cell of the crime branch.

Haseena (46) arrived at the police headquarters near Crawford Market around 11 am on Saturday along with her daughter Qudsiya in a taxi. Completely covered in a black burqa, mother and daughter went to the AEC office. They were immediately taken into the chamber of inspector Ramesh Mahale, who questioned Haseena at length for around two-and-a-half hours.

Metropolitan magistrate V K Sharma had on May 24 granted Haseena bail on a surety of Rs 25,000. Sharma instructed Haseena “to assist the police in the investigation’’ and go to the police head quarters for the next 30 days. While Haseena was being questioned by Mahale, Qudsiya sat on a chair in the corner.

Haseena, whose husband Ibrahim Ismail Parkar, was shot down by Arun Gawli gangsters on July 26, 1992, near Grant Road, now stays with her mother in-law and her two children at Gordon Hall apartment. The AEC officers wanted to know Haseena’s source of income and how she managed to maintain a plush flat at Gordon Hall. Haseena had last year bought a flat worth Rs 41 lakh in Bandra (west). The police were also curious to know how she procured the amount.

The police wanted to know about her relationship with Saleem, Shameem Qureishi, Baba Shukla, Chandresh Sah and Arshad Shaikh. AEC officers wanted to know more about Saleem, who stays in the same area. Saleem was arrested from Kanpur. They also asked her about how she got in touch with Shukla, owner of Build Tech Engineer and Developer. Shukla had allegedly demanded Rs 1 crore from Vinod Avlani, a real estate agent, for the rights of a slum redevelopment project.

TAX TROUBLE
The BMC will soon issue a demand notice to Haseena Parkar for property tax amounting to RS 65, 000 for a building owned by her on Pakmodia Street in Bhendi bazaar. TNN

The Times of India, May 27, 2007

‘We got Haseena Parkar to appear in court’

Police commissioner D N Jadhav

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: Having failed to secure her custody, the police will now move the sessions court to ask that the bail granted to Dawood Ibrahim’s sister, Haseena Parkar, be cancelled. Parkar was granted bail in an extortion and forgery case on Thursday.

“We are preparing to move the sessions court against the magistrate’s order,’’ police commissioner D N Jadhav told TOI on Friday.

When asked where the police had gone wrong, Jadhav said the Crime Branch had still to review the case. “An investigator’s viewpoint may be different from that of the court. We represented our case before the court, however the court granted bail. We don’t get emotionally involved in any case. The court has just granted her bail, the case is not yet closed,’’ he said.

Rebuffing talk of a total failure by the police, Jadhav said, “It’s a positive sign that we got her to appear in court. It shows that she has faith in the system.’’ He also asked, “If she has not played any role in the case, why has the court directed her to appear before the police for 30 days?’’

The police have so far arrested Krishnamilan ‘Baba’ Shukla, Sandeep Shukla, Shameem Qureishi and Saleem Patel in the case. The Shuklas and another accused, Chandresh Shah, are out on bail. Two others, Arshad and Maqsood, are still at large.

Former police commissioner M N Singh said he was shocked to hear that a Crime Branch officer could not explain the extortion and forgery in court. “It seems like a flop show. Parkar was granted bail because the police were unable to present the case properly. Moreover, there was a delay in filing the FIR. It seems the FIR was registered only after the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) started probing the Crime Branch officers who allegedly asked for bribes to go soft on the case. In such a situation, it looks like the police have not done their homework properly,’’ Singh said.

On December 19 last year, real estate agent Vinod Avlani told the Crime Branch that he had given Rs 1 crore to Baba Shukla for a redevelopment project. The Crime Branch FIR said the money was paid through a demand draft at Parkar’s Gordon Hall residence at Nagapada. When the deal fell through, Avlani received only Rs 70 lakh in return. Shukla refused to pay the balance and allegedly got Parkar to threaten Avlani. The Crime Branch filed an FIR on April 21, 2007.

The Crime Branch sounded a high alert across the state, from railway stations to the airport. But six police teams failed to trace Parkar. Jadhav told TOI that Parkar had left her residence six days before the FIR was filed.

A magistrate then issued a non-bailable warrant against Parkar. The police listed her properties and announced that they might attach them. On May 22, Parkar appeared before the sessions court and applied for bail.

Avlani’s complaint was being probed by Crime Branch Unit I, but later it was handed to the Anti-Extortion Cell because two Unit I officers, Anil Mahabole and Rajendra Nikam, were being investigated by the ACB. The Crime Branch then filed the FIR.

JUDGESPEAK
Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar and seven others were accused by realty agent Vinod Avlani of taking Rs 1 crore from him for a business deal, but repaying only Rs 70 lakh when the deal fell through. Here are the main observations made by magistrate V K Sharma when granting Parkar bail of Rs 25,000 on Thursday.

Why did the Crime Branch wait till April 21, 2007 to register an FIR against Parkar and the others when Avlani’s complaint of extortion and forgery was made on December 19, 2006?

The FIR was lodged only after two Crime Branch officers investigating the case were arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau for seeking Rs 10 lakh from the accused to go soft on Avlani’s complaint

The police relied on a ‘strange definition of extortion’ as the Rs 30 lakh was paid by Avlani through a demand draft

‘At the most it is a case of cheating and not extortion’

Parkar’s custody is not necessary to ascertain if documents are forged. The documents can speak for themselves

The Times of India, May 26, 2007

Violence once ruled in ‘the den of the dons’ at Nagpada

GODFATHERS’ GANGLAND: Nagpada’s narrow lanes and bylanes were once home to not just big-league gangsters, but also ‘galli ka shers’

Archana Sharma & Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: If the Mumbai underworld once had an address, it would have been here. Nagpada was home to some of the most dreaded criminals of the country—and is now home to Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar.

Nagpada and its surrounding areas could have been called ‘the den of the dons’. Dawood, Chhota Shakeel, Aalam Zeb, Ameerzada, Ahmed Kashmiri and Asif Baatla all grew up here or had their mafias operating from here.

Apart from such big notorious names, every lane also had a dada or self-styled “galli ka sher’’. ‘Patthar-baatli’ (stone and soda bottle) fights were the order of the day. At the sight of the smallest of scuffles, restaurants would down shutters. But gang members would anyway storm in and pull out crates of soda bottles, the one-time standard weapon.

There were defences too, and they were the coir charpoys. “Two boys would hide behind each ‘khatiya’ and throw soda bottles. They would drag the khatiya along as their offensive increased,’’ recalled 40-year-old Yaqub Kaandi, whose window at his Qazipura house in Nagpada opened to such scenes.

Soon, swords and ‘awaazwala rampuri’ (a noise-making knife) were employed by the local goons to settle scores. Then, one day in 1980, Noora Ibrahim was attacked at Qazipura Mohalla as his cycle apparently hit someone. Some local goons ran a liquor den there. A few days later, Nagpada, woke up to the sound of gunshots for the first time.

“No one knew that Noora was Dawood’s brother. He was wearing a lungi and riding a cycle and a scuffle broke out. He was beaten up by the Qazipura men and his lungi was stripped,’’ said another resident who witnessed the fight as a teenager.

A few days later, Dawood’s men beat up Noora’s assailants and opened fire as well. “That was the first time a gun was used in our area,’’ the resident said.

Having seen such dramatic street fights, shootouts and subsequently police encounters, the people of Nagpada are not in the least excited about the current news involving Haseena Parkar.

Nagpada has on its south side Pakmodia Street, where Dawood was brought up with his 10 other siblings. To its north is Dagdi Chawl, the bastion of gangsterturned-politician Arun Gawli and jailed gangster Amar Naik. To its west is Jairaj Gully and Shuklaji Street, where Karim Lala’s Pathan gang had a stronghold. To the east is JJ Hospital, which has treated several gangsters and even witnessed shootouts within its premises.

Dawood is not a target of hatred here. Quite the opposite. “He never troubled any one locally. If his men ate at our hotel and refused to pay up, Dawood would hit them if he was told about their behaviour. His dealings were in the big league. People like us were never affected,’’ said the owner of a famous restaurant there.

However, there are those who praise the passing of the gangsters’ era. On Wednesday, while seated comfortably in his garment shop at Surti Mohalla, Abdul Majeed was surrounded by stacks of clothes ready for sale.

“There was a time when we couldn’t dare to show so much material in the shop. The local goons would immediately demand money. Police encounters killed many of these goons and there’s a lot of peace now,’’ he said.

Nagpada was known as a secular place, with a lot of Hindus and Jews living together during the pre-Partition era. In fact, the neighbourhood derives its name from a Shiv temple in the area. The snake wound around Shiva’s neck lent its name to the place.

Novelist Sajid Rashid, who was Dawood’s classmate in Ahmed Sailor School, said, “Till around the mid-50s, Jews would sit on the kerb and drink kehwa (Middle Eastern tea). After Israel was formed in 1948, many Jews slowly started leaving India.’’

In fact, Gordon Hall, Haseena Parkar’s residence, was reportedly built on an erstwhile Jewish cemetery.
The Hindus of the Nagpada area started their exodus following the communal riots of 1984.
archana.sharma@timesgroup.com
mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

Haseena Parkar(circled)


The Times of India, May 24, 2007

Catch her if you can

WILL THE REAL HASEENA PLEASE STAND UP? Haseena Parkar (left) and one of her four imitators outside the sessions court

Dawood’s Sister Makes An Appearance Even As Cops Couldn’t Trace Her And Speculation Was Rife She Had Fled City

Mateen Hafeez/tnn

By appearing in a sessions court on Tuesday, underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s younger sister Haseena Parkar put an end to speculation that she had fled to Gujarat, Nepal, Bangkok, Dubai or some other place to elude police looking for her for a month.

When TOI visited her Gordon Hall residence at Nagpada later on Tuesday, she was offering the ‘magrib namaz’ after a hectic day in court.

By 5.30 pm, the Nagpada police received a wireless message to keep her under surveillance. Parkar was allowed by the court to return home, but has to show up in court on Wednesday for the hearing of her anticipatory bail plea. She has been accused along with seven others in a cheating, forgery and extortion case.

Over a dozen plainclothes men from the police station, Crime Branch and Special Branch kept watch in and around her building on Tuesday. A police Qualis was stationed in the premises of Gordon Hall. A team led by inspector Arvind Sawant visited her first-floor residence to check if she had returned from court. To queries, Sawant simply said, “We have been asked to keep a watch on her.’’

The Anti-Extortion Cell registered the case against Parkar and seven others on April 21. According to the cell, which is part of the Crime Branch, officers did all they could to arrest Parkar, but failed to locate her. A magistrate had issued a non-bailable warrant for her on May 10. Speculation was rife, even in the media, that she had gone to Nepal via Gujarat or was planning to escape to Bangkok. Crime Branch chief M C Borwankar said her personnel made every effort to trace Parkar

TOI had earlier reported that Parkar, a widow, was at Nagpada and had not left the city.

“My mother never left the city, even after a case was registered against her for extortion. She is suffering from diabetes, blood pressure and back pain and is resting in our flat,’’ said Haseena’s eldest daughter Qudsiya.

Qudsiya got married two years ago and stays with her in-laws, but she has been at her mother’s house ever since the case was registered. Several guests also visited the residence on Tuesday.

Qudsiya said, “The matter is sub judice and I don’t want to comment. My gradmother is bedridden and there are guests with my mother and grandmother.’’ When asked whether the police presence was a bother, Qudsiya said, “Let the police do their job. My mother is at home so we don’t have to worry about anything.’’

Qudsiya complained, “Even the media knows the truth, but they show anything deliberately. Some said my mother is absconding, but I would like to say that she is very much in Mumbai,’’ said Qudsiya firmly.

TIME TRACKER: HOW THE CASE UNFOLDED

A BROKER’S DEAL BREAKS: THE INITIAL CASE

Last year, while looking for properties to redevelop, 42-year-old real-estate broker Vinod Avlani identifies a plot in Wadala where he thinks a multi-storey building can be constructed. He approaches the slumdwellers there for a no-objection certificate

He comes to know that the slumdwellers have already given an NOC to Krishnamilan ‘Baba’ Shukla and his nephew, Sandeep Shukla

Some time before September 2006, Avlani approaches the Shuklas and gives them and six others, including Haseena Parkar and broker Chandresh Shah, a demand draft of Rs 1 crore for the NOC. Haseena is the brother of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim

It is in Haseena’s presence, at her Gordon Hall apartment which is opposite the Nagpada police station, that Avlani hands over the demand draft of Rs 1 crore, police allege

The deal does not work out and Avlani asks for his Rs 1 crore back

He gets a demand draft of only Rs 70 lakh in return

Avlani makes repeated attempts to get the remaining money back. He finally goes to

Haseena’s residence. Police allege that when he asks for the Rs 30 lakh, Haseena tells him: ‘Yahan se nikal ja, nahin toh goli maar doongi.’’

On December 25, 2006, Avlani complains to deputy commissioner of police (Crime Branch) D D Kamalakar

No action is taken even as he makes several rounds of the crime branch

ACCUSED VS ACCUSED: A TWIST IN THE TALE
An unexpected twist occurs when Shah is arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in April 2007 for accepting Rs 1.5 lakh from Baba Shukla. Both Shah and Baba Shukla are among the eight people named in Avlani’s complaint

Shah allegedly tells ACB officials that the money is for Crime Branch cops Anil Mahabole and Rajendra Nikam, to help make them go soft on Avlani’s complaint
ACB officials visit Crime Branch headquarters and question officers for two days

The case is transferred from Crime Branch (Unit I) to the Anti-Extortion Cell, which is also in the Crime Branch

The cell converts Avlani’s complaint into an FIR on April 21

SURPRISE, SURPRISE: THE ‘ELUSIVE’ HASEENA APPEARS
Baba Shukla and nephew Sandeep Shukla, who is also among the eight accused, are arrested. The Rs 30 lakh was encashed through Sandeep’s account

Shah applies for anticipatory bail. The judge says he will hear his plea only after Haseena’s arrest

On May 10, a magistrate issues nonbailable arrest warrants for Haseena Parkar, Arshad Shaikh, Saleem Patel, Shameem Khan and Maqsood Ansari. They are among the eight accused. Of the other three, the Shuklas are already in custody and Shah has applied for bail

On May 11, Mahabole is transferred to Local Arms. Top police officials say it is part of a routine reshuffle of more than 40 senior inspectors

Police start identifying Haseena’s properties. Sources say the Crime Branch is planning to move court to attach her properties if she is not arrested

On May 18, a sessions court gives 10 days interim relief from arrest to Shah

On May 22, Haseena pleads for anticipatory bail in a sessions court

The Times of India, May 23, 2007