Trustee of Mahim & Haji Ali Dargah amongst detained after NIA raids at multiple places
In a major crackdown on terrorist Dawood Ibrahim’s gang, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths have picked up Salim Qureshi aka Salim Fruit, the husband of Chhota Shakeel’s sister-in-law, from his residence in the Bhendi Bazar area of south Mumbai.
Officials said that they detained the accused after conducting raids at over 20 places in Mumbai and in the adjoining Thane district against the associates of fugitive underworld don Dawood.
The NIA has also detained Sohail Khandwani, the trustee of the Haji Ali Dargah and Mahim Dargah, from his residence in the Mahim area. Some other people residing in Bandra and Mahim areas were also questioned, the official added.
A team of NIA officials also searched Khandwani’s Mahim-based office, and questioned a number of people, including builder Aslam Soratia and beef exporter Fareed Qureshi, officials said.
Since morning, the central agency conducted raids at a housing society in Mumbai’s Nagpada area, Bhendi Bazar, Santacruz, Mahim, and Goregaon areas of the city, Mumbra in Thane, and other places against associates of 1993 Mumbai blasts’ mastermind Dawood Ibrahim.
Several ‘hawala’ operators and drug peddlers were allegedly associated with Ibrahim, officials said.
In February this year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had questioned Salim Qureshi as part of its probe into a money laundering case linked to Dawood Ibrahim.
The ED had then conducted multiple searches in Mumbai as part of a money-laundering probe into the operations of the underworld and linked illegal property deals and hawala transactions.
This is the same case under which Nationalist Congress Party’s leader Nawab Malik was arrested and is currently in jail. The NIA filed the FIR on February 3, 2022, under criminal conspiracy and Sections 17 (punishment of raising funds for terrorist act), 18 (punishment for conspiracy), 20 (punishment for being member of terrorist gang or organization), 21 (punishment for holding proceeds of crime), 38 (offences relating to membership of a terrorist organization) and 40 (offences of raising fund for a terrorist organization) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
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