New Delhi/Mumbai: Tightening its noose around underworld don and fugitive Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday shared that it has attached immovable asset in the form of a flat worth around Rs 55 lakh of Mumtaz Ezaz Shaikh, a close aide of Iqbal Kaskar.
An ED official said that the financial probe agency has attached a flat in Mumbai’s Thane held in the name of Shaikh, a close associate of Kaskar, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in an extortion case.
The ED registered a money laundering case on the basis of an FIR registered on September 18, 2017 against Kaskar, brother of underworld Gangster Dawood Ibrahim, Sheikh and Israr Ali Jamil Saiyad for extortion under various sections of IPC.
After conducting a probe, a final report was filed on November 13, 2017 by Thane Police under several sections of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 and IPC.
The ED official said that its probe revealed that complainant Suresh Devichand Mehta, a real estate builder and developer, was running a business of construction with his partner through his firm Darshan enterprises.
“Due to close proximity with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, Kaskar, Sheikh and Saiyad managed to extort a flat in Thane in the name of Shaikh,” the ED official said, adding that four cheques totalling to Rs 10 lakhs as demanded by them were issued by the builder which have been encashed by the accused by cash withdrawals.
He said that these accounts were operated only for withdrawing the cash amount of Rs 10 lakh and no other transactions were carried out in these accounts. “These accounts were operated to hide end user/real user of the extorted amounts. It is also revealed that the accused persons extorted cash amounts from Mehta during that period,” the official said.
The ED arrested Kaskar on February 18 this year and is under judicial custody.