Dawood Ibrahim’s 2 properties auctioned; owner to build Sanatana school

Four properties belonging to India’s most wanted gangster were put up for public but only two were sold in the auction.

A lawyer from Delhi, Ajay Shrivastava, purchased two ancestral properties belonging to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar’s family located at Khed tehsil in Ratnagiri district, at an auction on Friday -- one of them for ₹2.01crore against the reserved price of just ₹15,440.

The authorities said that, in the past nine years, 11 properties linked to the gangster or his family have been sold by them in public auctions. (Getty Image/File Photo)

Shrivastava, who earlier purchased another land parcel belonging to the gangster’s family in an earlier auction, said he wanted to start a Sanatana Dharma School at the properties.

A competent authority under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA) conducted the auction in the office of the Income-Tax department at Churchgate. Four properties belonging to the India’s most wanted gangster were put up for public but only two – land parcels measuring 170.98 sq mtrs and 1,730 sq mtrs, located at Mumbke village in Ratnagiri district - were sold in the auction.

It was the smaller plot that fetched ₹2.01 crores, while the larger property was sold for ₹3.28 lakh against the reserve price of ₹1.56 lakh. Two other properties remained unsold.

A SAFEMA officer said the properties are located at Kaskar family’s native place where the fugitive gangster and his siblings have spent a brief time of their lives.

“I have purchased the two plots, and I brought the land parcels at such whopping prices as I believe in astrology and the plots survey number matched with my birth date. Also, I own an adjacent plot purchased in the last auction. I want to develop Sanatan Dharma School at the said plots. I didn’t bid for the other two plots as they don’t have proper roads to reach them,” said Shrivastava.

He added that he wants to send a message to the people at large that Dawood’s clout no longer exists and one who acts against the country, his properties are seized, and they are sold, and people will come forward and purchase them. The lawyer also brought the gangster’s industrial unit at Tardeo in 2001, but is yet to get possession of the property.

The authorities said that, in the past nine years, 11 properties linked to the gangster or his family have been sold by them in public auctions.

The four land plots were confiscated under SAFEMA years ago and were put up for public auction on “as is where is” basis. It was the responsibility of the successful bidder to get the property transferred in their name, the SAFEMA officers said.