Charge sheet filed against Iqbal Kaskar in Thane extortion case
The charge sheet includes confessions from all the seven accused, of which four have been arrested, while three are wanted
On Tuesday, the Thane police filed a 1,643-page charge sheet against Iqbal Kaskar, brother of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, along with six others accused of extorting builders and jewellers in and around Thane.
The charge sheet includes confessions from all the seven accused, of which four have been arrested, while three are wanted.
Pradeep Sharma, senior police inspector from the Thane anti-extortion cell (AEC), said, “We also found Iqbal was in touch with Dawood through IMO and Skype.” The AEC found he had made more than 100 calls using this software in the past two years.
Kaskar, who was deported from the United Arab Emirates in 2003, is said to be operating Dawood’s real estate business in the city, the police said.
On September 18, the Thane anti-extortion cell arrested Kaskar, Mumtaz and Sayyed for extorting Rs30 lakh from a builder.
On October 11, the Thane police slapped the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on seven people — Iqbal,52, Pankaj Gangar,54, Mumtaz Shaikh,48, and Israr Sayyed,57, Chotta Shakeel (another of Dawood’s brothers), and two shooters, Shammi and Guddu. Shakeel, Shammi and Guddu are wanted while the other four have been arrested.
After the builder case, the Thane police found Kaskar, Sayyed and Shaikh had allegedly extorted gold from a jewellery shop owner.
The police have so far registered three FIRs against the accused and Iqbal has been named in all. Dawood has been named prime accused in one of three.
The Thane police are also checking if Rs90 lakh, which Iqbal allegedly extorted from various builders in the city, was used to fund a terror group.
According to the police, Gangar, a gambling den owner, was in touch with Ibrahim and Shakeel over the phone and through VOIP calls.
“We are also checking if people from other countries are involved in the racket. We suspect they have extorted around Rs90 lakh, which they might have used to fund some terror group, with the help of Dawood,” said a source close to the investigation.
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