Dawood and Anees Ibrahim named as co-accused in extortion case, following brother Iqbal Kaskar's arrest

Mumbai: Fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his brother Anees Ibrahim have been shown as wanted accused in the case of extorting Rs 3 crore from a prominent builder, in which their sibling Iqbal Kaskar is already booked, Thane Police said.

The police's crime branch had registered an extortion offence based on on the builder's complaint against Kaskar and the Dawood's gang members, a police official said. During investigation in the case, the alleged role of Dawood and Anees also came to light, following which both were shown as wanted accused, the official said.

Iqbal Kaskar was arrested on 18 September from Thane. Image procured by Sanjay Sawant

Dawood is a key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

Kaskar and his gang members were earlier booked in this fresh case of extorting Rs 3 crore from the builder in north Mumbai, the official said. This is the third extortion case registered against Kaskar and his gang members after their arrest in connection with a probe into an extortion racket last month, a police official earlier said.

As per the fresh complaint, Kaskar had allegedly threatened and extorted Rs 3 crore from him over a deal of a 38-acre land in Gorai, he said.

The police had registered the new complaint of extortion under sections 384 (extortion), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt) and 387 (putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion) of the Indian Penal Code against Kaskar and his gang at the Thane Nagar police station.

Kaskar and two of his aides — Mumtaz Sheikh and Israr Ali Jamil Sayyad — were arrested on 18 September by the anti-extortion cell (AEC) of the Thane Police, led by encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma and his team, in a case of Rs 30 lakh and four flats from a builder. They had also been booked following another complaint of extortion lodged by a Thane-based jeweller.

Recently, the AEC of the Thane crime branch had arrested Borivali-based businessman Pankaj Gangar in connection with the extortion racket. Gangar, a close aide of "matka king" Pappu Savla, had been sending Rs 10-15 lakh per month to Dawood's aide Chhota Shakeel, the police had said earlier.

He used to transfer the money to Shakeel through illegal hawala transactions, they had said. Chhota Shakeel, whose role had also emerged in the extortion racket case, had been declared a wanted accused, the official said.