If only Abu Salem had a few more men — and a little bit of luck — Dawood Ibrahim could have been history today. So says the don who is now in the custody of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS).
Around 2000, when both gangsters were in Karachi, he had the desire and determination to kill his one-time mentor, Salem has told interrogators. “Maine usko tapkane ka man bana liya tha.”
His reasons were pretty straightforward: the constant humiliation he faced from Dawood’s brothers Anees and Noora — and the don’s endorsement of it — had become unbearable.
Salem’s claims, if true, tie in with current whispers in Mumbai that a D-company killer squad is already in the city, looking for a chance to bump him off. A Dawood hireling called Anees Farooki is believed to be in charge, and street chatter in Dongri has it that the right weapons are on their way. Authorities at Arthur Road have already said the prison, packed with Dawood’s men, is unsafe for him.
Salem’s problems with Dawood apparently started soon after Gulshan Kumar’s killing in 1997. The protégé was ready to come out of his mentor’s shadow, but the don wasn’t yet prepared to accept him as an independent operator. Salem’s aide Irfan Goga went missing in Sharjah and was subsequently detained at Dubai airport after what was widely believed to have been a tip-off from Anees.
{{/usCountry}}Salem’s problems with Dawood apparently started soon after Gulshan Kumar’s killing in 1997. The protégé was ready to come out of his mentor’s shadow, but the don wasn’t yet prepared to accept him as an independent operator. Salem’s aide Irfan Goga went missing in Sharjah and was subsequently detained at Dubai airport after what was widely believed to have been a tip-off from Anees.
{{/usCountry}}Over the next few years, as Salem became Bollywood’s worst nightmare, Anees, Noora and Chhota Shakeel were apparently overcome by jealousy. In Karachi, Salem was frequently humiliated before the entire gang. He would hit back, and there would be friction in which Dawood would take his brothers’ side. Salem would be told to fall in line.
Meanwhile, Shakeel worked on gangsters personally loyal to Salem. They were threatened, bought over, killed. As he shuttled between continents with Monica Bedi by his side, Salem found himself devoid of a gang. “I wanted to kill Dawood, par main akela rah gaya tha,” he said.
ATS officers wouldn’t say if they believed Salem’s story. But they agreed it would have been almost impossible for anyone in his position to order a successful hit on Dawood. “Uski aukaat nahin thi,” ACP Jaijeet Singh of the ATS said.