Central government sells Dawood Ibrahim’s six properties at Ratnagiri

One of Ibrahim’s properties auctioned included survey number 181, a 27-guntha land parcel, which houses a two-storey bungalow and two houses

Fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s six properties in his ancestral village in Ratnagiri district in coastal Konkan in Maharashtra was sold by the central government on Monday through e-auction organised by the authorities from the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA), 1976.

Dawood Ibrahim. (HT Archive)

One of Ibrahim’s properties auctioned included survey number 181, a 27-guntha land parcel, which houses a two-storey bungalow and two houses.

Though the base price for the bungalow was set at Rs 5.35 lakh, it was sold for Rs 11.20 lakh.

The bid was won by Ajay Shrivastav, who also bagged the ownership rights of Ibrahim’s another 24.90-gunta land parcel at Mumbake village in Khed taluka, bearing the survey number 153 (a 24.90-gunta land parcel).

It had a reserved price of Rs 1.89 lakh and sold for Rs 4.30 lakh, SAFEMA officials said.

Four other land parcels in Mumbake village, bearing survey number 150 (20 guntas and a reserved price of Rs 1.52 lakh), survey number 151 (27 guntas and a reserved price of Rs 2.05 lakh), survey number 152 (29.30 guntas and a reserved price of Rs 2.23 lakh) and survey number 155 (18 guntas and a reserved price of Rs 1.38 lakh) were sold for Rs 7.18 lakh.

Bids for these land parcels were won by Bhupendra Bharadwaj, a Delhi-based Supreme Court (SC) lawyer.

Altogether, Ibrahim’s seven properties were to be auctioned, but Survey number 81 -- a 30-gunta land parcel, that housed a petrol pump and other buildings at Lote in Khed taluka and had a reserved price Rs 61.48 lakh -- was withdrawn at the last moment due to a technical error, said an official.

Two flats of Ibrahim’s deceased aide Iqbal Mirchi – 501 and 502 in Milton Apartments on Juhu Tara Road in Santacruz (West), Mumbai – that were also up for sale remained unsold because of lack of buyers.

Buyers found the bidding price too high like last time, when it was put up for sale on November 19, 2019, the official said.

Competent authority Hari Govind Singh supervised the auction which was conducted by RN D’Souza, additional commissioner, Income Tax (I-T).

The bidding was conducted through e-auction and sealed tenders and many bidders took part, despite the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

“The auction was a success,” the official added.

Under SAFEMA, 1976, the Union finance ministry had planned to auction all 13 properties of Ibrahim in the first quarter of this year.

But the Covid-19 outbreak, which was followed by 68-day nationwide lockdown restrictions, put paid to the plans.

Section 68F of SAFEMA, 1976, empowers the authority to attach properties of family members and relatives of a fugitive.

In April 2019, SAFEMA officials had auctioned a flat, measuring 600 square (sq) feet (ft), at Gordon Hall Apartments in Nagpada, Mumbai. The apartment, which belonged to Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar, who had died in 2014, was sold for Rs 1.80 crore.

Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar was staying in the Nagpada apartment.

In 2018, SAFEMA authorities had auctioned Ibrahim’s property, Amina Mansion, on Pakmodia Street in Mumbai. The reserved price of the property was Rs 79.43 lakh, and the bid was won by the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) for Rs 3.51 crore.

In November 2017, SBUT had made the highest bid for the three sealed properties of the fugitive don.

The Rounaq Afroz restaurant, also known as Delhi Zaika, was sold for Rs 4.53 crore.

Six flats in Damarwala building were sold for Rs 3.53 crore, while Shabnam Guest House fetched a price of Rs 3.52 crore.