Dawood Ibrahim's gang member arrested in Lucknow

An active member of Dawood Ibrahim's gang has been arrested by the Anti-Terror Squad of Uttar Pradesh Police for allegedly helping Mumbai-based criminals to get passports issued on fake addresses.

Mohd Ashraf, who is an active member of Dawood's gang, was arrested by the ATS with the help of district policenear a hotel in Hussainganj area late last night, a police spokesman said.

Ashraf's name cropped up during the interrogation of Mirza Arif Beig, a shooter of Dawood's gang, who told Mumbai police's crime branch after his arrest last year that he had got three passports issued from Lucknow regional passport office with the help of local links.

Ashraf, who hails from Balrampur district, got the passports issued through a tout after showing the criminals as residents of his native village, he said, adding that fake currency notes with a face value of Rs 10,000 were also recovered from his possession, they said.