A close circuit of 21 people with links to fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim has been zeroed in by National Investigating Agency (NIA) after conducting a series of raids in Maharashtra.
"We raided as many as 29 locations and have identified 21 people having connections with 'D-gang' and now we are going to summon them for questioning soon," a senior NIA official told NDTV.
According to him, the NIA had conducted searches at 24 places in the Mumbai Commissionerate and five places in Mira Road Bhayandar Commissionerate.
"We have seized lot of evidence in form of electronic devices, documents relating to real estate, cash and fire arms. One by one, we will summon people from whose locations items have been seized and seek an explanation," an official said.
As per probe team officials, those under the NIA's scanner include gangster Chhota Shakeel's brother-in-law Salim Qureshi alias Salim Fruit, managing trustee of Mahim and Haji Ali dargahs Suhail Khandwani, Bollywood producer and the 1993 Mumbai blasts accused Sameer Hingorani, alleged hawala operator Abdul Kayyum, alleged bookie-turned-builder Ajay Ghosaliya alias Ajay Ganda, Mobida Bhiwandiwala, Guddu Pathan, and restaurateur Aslam Sarodia.
The investigative agency had conducted raids across 29 places in Mumbai and its adjoining districts in relation to the case filed by the NIA on February 3 earlier this year too.
The case pertains to terror and criminal activities of the international terrorist network of D-Company involving Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and his associates, including Haji Anees alias Anees Ibrahim Shaikh, Shakeel Shaikh alias Chhota Shakeel, Javed Patel alias Javed Chikna and Ibrahim Mushtaq Abdul Razzaq Memon alias Tiger Memon.
They have been charged with indulging in arms smuggling, 'narco terrorism', money laundering, circulation of fake Indian currency note (FICN), as well as unauthorised possession and acquisition of key assets for raising terror funds.
According to NIA, they are also working in active collaboration with international terrorist organizations, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Al Qaeda (AQ).
The probe agency FIR also alleges that the D-Company has created a special unit for striking terror in the people of India by attacking eminent personalities of India including political leaders, businessmen and others by using lethal weapons.
The central agency also revealed that Ibrahim and his associates are planning to instigate and trigger incidents that may lead to violence in various parts of India such as Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities.
Dawood Ibrahim was designated as a global terrorist in 2003 by India and the United States, with a reward of $25 million on his head for his alleged role in the 1993 Bombay bombings. He is also accused in multiple cases of extortion, murder, and smuggling.
More recently, the Pakistan government sanctioned Dawood Ibrahim, and 87 others wanted for terror-related activities, to evade being put on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.
The FATF is a Paris-based inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terror financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
