Will death of Chhota Shakeel’s kin impact D-gang’s city ops?
Arif Bhaijaan, gangster’s brother-in-law, died at JJ Hospital on Friday; he was his go-to man in Mumbai
Will the death of Arif Bhaijaan, brother-in-law of Chhota Shakeel, adversely impact the operations of the Dawood Ibrahim gang in Mumbai? That is the question being asked in underworld circles in the metropolis. Arif Abubakar Shaikh, 63, aka Bhaijaan died at JJ Hospital on Friday following a heart attack. His family members are, however, wondering how he could have died suddenly of a cardiac arrest when his health condition was normal. They accused the hospital authorities of not being forthcoming about the exact reasons for the death.
While Shakeel, who is based in Pakistan, continues to be the principal lieutenant of Dawood, Bhaijaan was his go-to man in Mumbai. If Shakeel had any assignment to be carried out in the metropolis, the first he called was Bhaijaan, who was known as much for his shrewdness as for his daring. Even though D-Company is not as active as before in extortion, it is definitely into big time investments in mega real estate projects and other legit business activities. Where muscle power was needed to make a rival builder fall in line or evict stubborn tenants, Bhaijaan was the person tasked to do the jobs. It is learnt that Bhaijaan had played a key role in preparing the ground for the entry of a large real estate from the south in the Mumbai market. Now, this company is executing several big-ticket residential and commercial projects and nobody dares cross swords with it.
In May 2023, Shaikh and his brother Shabbir were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a terror funding case against Dawooda, Shakeel and a few of their close aides. They were accused, among other things, for allegedly working in tandem with Pakistan-based Islamic terrorist organisations like Lashkare-Taiba. The courts were not inclined to grant bail to Bhaijaan since he was a hardcore member of D gang.
Apart from Bhaijaan, Mohammed Salim Qureshi, also known as Salim Fruit, was also accused of extorting money from businessmen to fund terror activities. The latter was close to Dawood's late sister
Haseena Parkar. Even though the NIA had tried to cripple D gang by arresting Bhaijaan and others, the fact remains that this mafia continues to be active as before. Its immediate challenge is to find a replacement for Bhaijaan. However, the names of a few candidates are under consideration of Shakeel.
D-company plays a major role in the real estate market of Mumbai Metropolitan Region through proxy companies. The gang is also eyeing a large slice of the booming building redevelopment market. One of its front companies is already executing a mega redevelopment project in central Mumbai. It is also financing some of the key construction projects. Incidentally, the gang had played an active role in the Lok Sabha elections not only in Maharashtra but also in Uttar Pradesh. Many of Shakeel's relatives have major investments in properties in Lucknow.