Iqbal Kaskar extortion case: NCP corporator, husband of Sena leader questioned
Pradeep Sharma, senior police inspector of the anti-extortion cell (AEC), Thane, said NCP corporator Najib Mulla and Ravi Gharat denied knowing Iqbal.
A Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) corporator and the husband of a Shiv Sena corporator from Thane were questioned on Wednesday in connection with an extortion case involving Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar.
Pradeep Sharma, senior police inspector of the anti-extortion cell (AEC), Thane, said NCP corporator Najib Mulla and Ravi Gharat denied knowing Iqbal.
Mulla, who is a developer, said he had met the other accused in the case — Israr Sayyed and Mumtaz Shaikh — at one of their partners’ office. “Gharat said he knows Mumtaz Shaikh as the latter is a real estate agent,” said Sharma.
Mulla was previously arrested in connection with the suicide of Suraj Parmar, president of Maharashta Chamber of Housing Industry.
“Both of them are not co-operating with the investigation. We have called them for questioning again,” Sharma added. The police said Mulla and Gharat learnt about the arrest of Iqbal Kaskar, Mumtaz Shaikh and Israr Sayyed through the media. They were arrested on September 18.
They are accused of extorting Rs30 lakh and four flats from a builder in Thane. A couple of days later, Pankaj Gangar, a gambler, was also arrested.
The Thane police have registered three first information reports (FIRs) against the accused. Kaskar’s name appears in all three FIRs. So far, there is no major progress in the third case. The police have filed two charge sheets. Currently, the accused are in judicial custody and facing charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 (MCOCA.
The MCOCA was slapped on Dawood’s aide Chhota Shakeel, Kaskar, Mumtaz Shaikh, Israr Sayyed, Pankaj Gangar, Guddu and Shammi.
Guddu and Shammi are said to be shooters.
