CBI seals Gutkha Baron’s conviction using testimony of Dawood’s relatives

New Delhi:

The testimony of three relatives of global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar was the CBI’s trump card to convict gutkha baron and two members of the D-Company gang in an organized crime case, agency officials said on Wednesday.

Special Judge BD Shelke in Mumbai on Monday convicted Goa gutka boss JM Joshi and D-Company gang members Zameeruddin Ghulam Rasool Ansari and Farooq Mansuri under relevant sections of the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) and the Indian Penal Code.

In Pakistan, where D-Company is holed up, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for helping a UN-designated global terrorist set up a plant to manufacture gutkha, chewable tobacco and various nuts.

Gutkha Baron Joshi and Rasiklal Manikchand Dhariwal (now deceased co-accused) had a financial dispute, following which they sought Dawood Ibrahim’s help to settle it.

The gangster, the mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai blasts, in turn sought his assistance in setting up gutkha manufacturing units in Pakistan to open up a new source of revenue for his organized crime syndicate.

The CBI filed a charge sheet in 2005 after a thorough investigation. The investigating officer examined three relatives of Dawood Ibrahim, who unearthed links between the convicts and the Dawood Ibrahim gang, D-Company operations and monetary exchanges.

During the trial, the CBI produced 44 witnesses, including Salim Ibrahim Shaikh and Saud Yusuf Tungetkar, uncles of Dawood’s wife Mahjabeen and Anees Ibrahim alias Chhota Seth and Dawood Ibrahim’s brother-in-law Shamim Ittefat Qureshi.

Officials said their statements were crucial to convicting the chargesheeted accused.

Shaikh narrated in his statement to the CBI investigating officer how Zameeruddin Ghulam Rasool Ansari alias Jumbo forced him to take machinery parts to Karachi on instructions from Anees Ibrahim, and recorded his statement before the court He stood by his word while getting it done. Magistrate under section 164 of CrPC and during subsequent trial.

He had gone to Karachi to meet his wife’s ailing relative in 2004, when Ansari interrupted him and asked him to pick up two pouches. Officials said that during the visit he stayed at Dawood Ibrahim’s residence in Clifton area.

Special Judge Shelke observed, “A perusal of the cross-examination of PW-12 (Sheikh) reveals that his evidence with regard to carrying the spares entrusted by accused No.1 (Ansari) stood firm in his cross-examination.” ,

The judge said Sheikh was a relative of Dawood Ibrahim and Anees Ibrahim and had no reason to testify against them.

“The evidence adduced from the mouth of PW-12 supports the case of the prosecution regarding involvement of accused No.1 (Ansari) as an active member of an organized crime syndicate headed by accused No.7 (Dawood Ibrahim) and 3 (Anees Ibrahim alias Chhota Seth)…,” the judge said.

He said Sheikh’s statement also supports the prosecution’s case with regard to the continued illegal activities carried out by Ansari for and on behalf of an organized crime syndicate headed by Dawood Ibrahim.

In his testimony, Dawood Ibrahim’s brother-in-law, Saud Yusuf Tungekar, said that Ansari arranged for his travel to Dubai, where he was living between 2000 and 2005.

Another brother-in-law, Shamim Iltefat Qureshi, testified as an eyewitness in the case, giving intricate details of how D-Company was setting up gutkha plants in Pakistan to open up a new source of earning.

Qureshi, a childhood friend of Anees Ibrahim, told investigators that Joshi and Dhariwal, a gutkha trader, had a dispute.

Qureshi gave details of the settlement of the dispute between the two gutkha barons, Joshi’s help in setting up the plant in Pakistan, details of meetings and exchange of money, among other things.

“It also appears from the evidence on record that accused No.5 (Joshi) had also taken the help of PW-15, PW-24 and PW-28 to settle the said dispute with the mediation of accused No.3 (Anees) Ibrahim). Ultimately, the dispute between accused Nos. 5 and 6 was settled on 9th September, 1999 at Karachi, Pakistan,” the judge said.

In return, Joshi provided financial assistance, technical and material assistance and supported the organized crime syndicate of Anees Ibrahim and Dawood Ibrahim by setting up a gutkha factory in Pakistan, the judge said.

“Further, accused No.5 (Joshi) made an extra-judicial confessional statement before PW-24 and PW-28 regarding the settlement of his business dispute with accused No.6 with the mediation of accused No.7 and extra-judicial confession that He received an amount of Rs 11 crore by way of settlement.This evidence can be accepted and relied upon.

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