Dawood’s nephew gets married in city, cops keep close watch

MUMBAI: Dawood Ibrahim’s nephew got married at a Nagpada mosque on Wednesday and the family hosted a lavish reception ceremony at a Juhu hotel later, but with the

MUMBAI: Dawood Ibrahim’s nephew got married at a Nagpada mosque on Wednesday and the family hosted a lavish reception ceremony at a Juhu hotel later, but with the police keeping a close watch, the event lacked the extravagance associated with Dawood family get-togethers, sources said.

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Alishah Parkar, Dawood’s sister Haseena’s youngest son, tied the knot with Ayesha Nagani, the daughter of a Gujarati Memon businessman from Mumbai Central.

Sources close to the family told HT the function was kept low-key because of high police surveillance. The reception was reportedly streamed over Skype to Dawood at his safe house, but care was taken not to stream it directly to the URL Dawood was using, to dodge surveillance. Bigwigs of D-Company in the city, as well as Dawood’s old business associates, stayed away after reports that the hotel had been bugged by sleuths to identify Dawood’s moles.

“Who wants to bring unnecessary attention of the police by attending the function?” said one of the invitees, who skipped the reception. “I will pay a visit to the newlyweds later,” he said.

Sources said that Wednesday’s reception was largely arranged by the bride’s family.

The food spread comprised Indian, Chinese, Italian and Moghlai sources said. By 9.30pm, the footfall was less than 200 – mostly close family relatives. Not more than 700 guests were expected to turn up.

Another reception (Dawate-Walima) has been slated for Thursday by the groom’s family and another reception to be jointly hosted by both families at the Doodhwalla compound on Friday. It has been decided to keep the two functions low key affairs, involving guests comprising close family members only.

After Alishah’s father Ismail was gunned down by the Arun Gawli gang in 1991, his mother Haseena rose to power and began handling Dawood’s businesses in the city. Called Haseena Apa by family and D Company members, she was never arrested, even though she faced several charges of extortion and torture. She died in 2014 of a cardiac arrest.

Unlike Haseena’s older son Danish, who was known for his recklessness before he was killed in a road accident years ago, sources said Alishah comes across as a well-mannered, hardworking man. He dabbles in the construction business and is said to have a clean track record. Sources said the bride was chosen by Haseena many years ago.