Businessman held in Iqbal Kaskar extortion case; Chhota Shakeel link revealed

The businessman, Pankaj Gangar, used to transfer the money to Shakeel, a close aide of Dawood, through illegal hawala transactions, Mumbai Police said.

Dawood Ibrahim's younger brother Iqbal Kaskar was detained by Thane police from his Mumbai residence in an extortion case. | ANI

MUMBAI: Fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s aide Chhota Shakeel is now on the radar of the police in an extortion case at Thane. Police have mentioned Shakeel as a wanted person in the case after his name came up during the investigation of Iqbal Kaskar, younger brother of Dawood who was arrested last week after a builder’s complaint on extortion.

A businessman arrested by the Thane Crime Branch Thursday in connection with an extortion case involving Kaskar had been sending Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh to Shakeel every month, police said.
The businessman, Pankaj Gangar, used to transfer the money to Shakeel through illegal hawala transactions, they said.

“Gangar was also involved in cricket betting and has links with the ‘matka’ (gambling) syndicate,” Abhishek Trimukhe, Thane deputy commissioner of police (Crime), said earlier in the day.

The 54-year-old businessman, a resident of suburban Borivali, was produced in a city court which sent him to police custody till October 5, he said. “Our investigation about his role in the (extortion case) is underway,” the official said.

According to another official, Gangar used to finance and provide weapons and accommodation to shooters of the ‘D’ (Dawood) gang who were part of the extortion racket. Gangar, once a close aide of ‘matka’ king Pappu Savla, was named in the murder case of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar. He was arrested in July 2008.

Meanwhile, police have received yet another complaint of extortion from a jeweller and have got the police custody of Kaskar increased. The police said that with the investigation so far, they have been able to link Shakeel and Dawood to the case and will need further investigation to establish a firm link.

(With PTI inputs)