The Dubai police on Monday morning picked up Anwar Shaikh alias Shiva from Hotel Al Hayat Residency on charges of travelling on a fake passport. Anwar’s close associate Sajid Memon alias Mitha, who was also present in the hotel room, was also detained, according to well-placed sources in Dubai.
The sources revealed that Anwar was staying with his brother Chhota Shakeel in Karachi for the last several years and was running an extortion racket on Shakeel’s behalf. There are a few cases of extortion registered against him in Mumbai and Gujarat, sources in the Mumbai police said.
Sources said that he had arrived in Dubai a couple of days ago to mourn the death of notorious smuggler Haji Ahmed, a one-time close associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. Ahmed had played a key role in handling arms used in the 1993 serial bomb blasts. A red corner notice was issued against Ahmed by Indian agencies, but he managed to evade arrest all these years as he never travelled out of Dubai, the sources revealed.
The underworld grapevine, however, disclosed that it was Anees Kaskar, Dawood’s younger brother, who tipped off the Dubai police about Anwar’s whereabouts. It is also learnt that Shakeel is making desperate attempts to get his brother off the hook by working his powerful connections in Dubai, but in the absence of active support from Dawood, it is unlikely that he will succeed.
While sources in Dubai confirmed the development, both the city police and the CBI refused to comment saying that they were still awaiting official confirmation from Dubai authorities.
