Iqbal Kaskar closer to Anees, spoke to Dawood 3-4 times in 14 years: Police

Thane crime branch officials, who are questioning Kaskar, said the name ‘brother of Dawood’ was enough for him to strike fear.

Iqbal Kaskar, the youngest brother of India’s most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim, was leading the underworld gang, better known as the D Company, in Mumbai after the death of their sister Haseena Parkar in July 2014, police officials have said.

Dawood Ibrahim (FILE PHOTO)

Officials of the crime branch of Thane Police, who are questioning Kaskar in connection with an extortion case, said the fifth of Dawood’s 11 siblings seemed more like a default head of the gang and was close to his other brother Anees than Dawood.

They added just the fact that he was the ‘brother of Dawood’ was enough for him to strike fear.

They said he was in constant touch with Anees, who is in charge of smuggling gold, silver, and narcotics and said to be in Pakistan’s Karachi with his wife and children.

Kaskar told the police that Dawood called him only three or four times since he was deported from the United Arab Emirates in 2003.

The arrest of Kaskar on Monday night has sparked speculation that India’s quest to bring the underworld don-turned-global terrorist to justice is gaining momentum. His arrest is aimed at disrupting and weakening Dawood’s empire, said sources in the intelligence establishment who asked not to be identified.

Intelligence agencies have been systematically targeting D Company operations in India reportedly with the help of the gangster Chhota Rajan, who was arrested from Indonesia in 2015.

In the current case, Kaskar allegedly extorted a builder of four flats and Rs 30 lakh in cash.

“The builder had approached Kaskar in the past to settle a dispute pertaining to a plot and Kaskar asked him for four houses for the settlement. But when Kaskar pushed for one more property, the builder approached us,” said a police officer.

While probing the extortion racket, police said the gang hired shooters from other states. The police were probing the involvement of the two shooters Guddu and Shammi, who may be involved in a murder case in Bihar’s capital Patna and a firing in Thane near a petrol pump.

Investigators have also found that some big builders took Kaskar’s help and this angle, which may lead to more cases being filed, was being probed.

The police are verifying the old criminal record of the two arrested accused and have also asked for a complete record of Kaskar’s cases in the city.

Kaskar was wanted in a murder case and the unauthorised construction of twin-shopping malls Sara and Sahara that had exposed alleged links between civic body officials and the underworld. However, he was acquitted in both the cases in 2007.

In 2015, Kaskar was arrested by the Mumbai Police in an extortion case but later released on bail.