Thane Police Commissioner Parambir Singh says they were probing whether Dawood had any role in Kaskar's extortion racket, as the latter would drop Dawood's name while threatening victims
A day after the Anti Extortion Cell of Thane police arrested fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar and two of his aides in an extortion case, the police have allegedly come to know about the involvement of two politicians and some builders from Thane in the extortion racket. Suspecting that the extorted money could be laundered out of the country, the Thane Police will be writing to Enforcement Directorate (ED) to carry out a probe into the matter.
On Monday night, the police arrested Kaskar and his aides Asrar Ali Jamil Sayed (52) and Mumtaj Ejaz Shaikh (48).
Thane Police Commissioner Parambir Singh said they were probing whether Dawood had any role in Kaskar's extortion racket, as the latter would drop Dawood's name while threatening victims.
"Sometimes, shooters from other states such as Bihar and Assam were recruited to threaten the builders and jewellers," Singh said. "We will be writing to Enforcement Directorate(ED) to carry out a probe as we suspect hawala links and overseas transactions were made by the accused. After conducting a preliminary inquiry, the names of a few politicians and builders have cropped up. We appeal to victims of this group to approach the police." He, however, refused to elaborate on the suspected role of politicians and builders in the racket.
Singh said the possibility of applying the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was also being examined. "We have detained three more persons, including a drug peddler, who were with Kaskar when we picked him up from Nagpada. We are checking their role in the case," he added
According to the Thane police, in 2013, the accused extorted four flats now worth Rs 5 crore and Rs 30 lakh from a prominent builder in Thane, claiming that a part of the land on which the flats were built was acquired by Kaskar for development. Shaikh and Sayed had then allegedly threatened the builder with dire consequences if their demands were not met.
Kaskar also allegedly called the builder and threatened him in the name of Dawood, after which the complainant gave in to their demands. While three flats were sold, Shaikh retained one to live in.
The arrested trio were produced before the Thane court on Tuesday, which remanded them to eight days police custody.
Senior lawyer Shyam Keswani, who represented Kaskar in court, refuted all allegations leveled by police and told the court that the police did not allow him to meet Kaskar and violated several Supreme Court guidelines.
Seeking minimum police custody for Kaskar, Keswani told the court, "I would like to ask the police what evidence they have against my client. Almost 50 vehicles and 60 policemen barged into Kaskar's house. Why did they use so much force? They have not found even a single pin or knife in the house," he told the court.
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