“Ab goli nahin, boli se kaam chalao (don’t use bullets; use words to get your work done)” is the latest diktat for Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel gang members in Mumbai. They have been instructed by Dawood to try and not use illegal means to get their work done. The underworld don plans to send two of his younger siblings to India and this order is to ensure that the D-gang does not indulge in any criminal activity before their arrival in Mumbai, underworld sources said.
The Dawood gang has been inactive in the past couple of years, but the latest fatwa has generated a lot of interest in police and intelligence circles apart from the underworld.
A senior Mumbai crime branch official who has been following the Dawood gang and its activities for a long time says such instructions are unusual. “Gangs and its members always rely on the fear factor. If they have been ordered not to use weapons, it will affect their functioning,” the officer said.
According to Mumbai underworld sources, there are two reasons why these orders have been issued. “Dawood is planning to send two of his younger brothers — Mustakeen and Humayun — to India. He wants to ensure that their coming to Mumbai is smooth and that there are no criminal activities of the gang before their arrival which will give the police a chance to harass the two brothers,” an underworld source said.
A central intelligence official said there is increasing tension in Pakistan, especially between the country’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Taliban.
“This is unfavourable to Dawood as he is being backed by the ISI and has also got close to the Taliban in the past couple of years. The growing tension between the two is harmful for Dawood,” the official observed. “That is another reason why he may be planning to send his brothers back to India.”
Dawood is also believed to have invested heavily in real estate projects in India and so he needs his trusted men to take care of his growing property business. “Mustakeen and Humayun have no pending cases against them in Mumbai or India, so they will not have any trouble coming back and leading a normal life in Mumbai. They can also take care of the property business,” the crime branch officer said.
According to underworld sources, another reason for the ‘no-weapons’ order is that Dawood and Shakeel have been trying to get former aides back into the D-gang. However, these people are reluctant to return. “Those who have worked with Dawood don’t want to invite the police’s wrath by getting the stamp of being D-gang members,” said a source. “The fatwa has been issued to give them confidence to return to the gang by assuring them that there will be no criminal activity."
About Kaskar
Dawood Ibrahim’s younger brother Iqbal Kaskar was deported to Mumbai from Dubai in 2003. There were a few MCOCA and extortion cases registered against him in Mumbai then. He has been acquitted in all cases.
