New Delhi: Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's key aide Abdul Qayum Shaikh has been deported to India. Qayum is Dawood's right-hand man and, according to the CBI, it is Qayum who had allegedly sold a 9mm pistol to actor Sanjay Dutt at the instance of Dawood's brother Anees Ibrahim in September 1992.
He is also alleged to have been actively involved in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. The Mumbai police, however, claim Qayum was arrested at Panjrapole on Sion-Trombay Road on Tuesday afternoon.
"Acting on a tip-off, we laid a trap for him at Panjrapole junction where he was said to be coming to meet some of his associates," PTI quoted Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Dhananjay Kamlakar as saying.
Qayum is believed to have fled to Dubai around 15 years ago and is wanted for seven cases registered in Mumbai, a majority of them related to extortion. A Crime Branch official said Qayum used to handle the accounts of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, but did not say when the gangster had returned from Dubai.
In his confession, Sanjay Dutt had revealed that he first met Qayum on the sets of a film in Dubai. The gangster later met him in a studio here and sold the pistol to him for Rs 40,000, the actor said. Qayum, a resident of Mahim in northwest Mumbai, was arrested in a case registered under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act in Juhu police station in 2000.
That case related to some persons firing at a businessman named Pujara and injuring him. Three people were convicted and two were acquitted in the case. "It's a case of extortion and attempted murder," Kamlakar said.
Police claim the arrest to be a big jolt for India's most wanted criminal. On November 21 last year, 10 members of his gang were arrested by the Crime Branch of Mumbai police after being deported from the UAE.
They were earlier in the custody of Dubai Police. On November 7 and 8, nearly 30 members of Dawood gang were arrested because of their alleged involvement in the murder of Raju bookie. Out of these 30, 10 were deported to Mumbai. They are now in the custody of the Crime Branch and are being questioned over their involvement various cases.
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