Gold extorted by Iqbal Kaskar recovered
Shaikh took loans from the two jewellers in Mahim and Majiwada, Thane, by keeping the ornaments as collateral.
Mumbai: Gold worth nearly Rs 3 lakh has been recovered by the Thane crime branch in an alleged extortion case registered against Iqbal Kaskar, brother of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, and his aides Asrarali Sayyad and Mumtaz Shaikh in 2015-16. The booty pertains to extortion to the tune of Rs 15 lakh from a Thane-based jeweller, and was recovered from two other jewellers in Mahim and Thane, with whom the valuables had been kept as security by Shaikh.
Officials of the anti-extortion cell (AEC) of Mumbai crime branch revealed that extorted valuables weighing 20 tola were kept with Sayyad as he needed them for his daughter’s marriage. Shaikh took loans from the two jewellers in Mahim and Majiwada, Thane, by keeping the ornaments as collateral.
A Thane crime branch officer said, “What we learned is that Sayyad splurged the loan money at bars. The two jewellers are being questioned to ascertain since when they know the gang members. We have not booked them in the case yet and action will be taken if they are found guilty.” The police further said that it was clueless as to why Sayyad splurged the loan money if he needed it for his daughter’s wedding and how Sayyad and Kaskar were planning to arrange for money to retrieve the ornaments kept as collateral.
A case was registered against Kaskar, Sayyad and Shaikhon September 20 after they extorted jewellery worth Rs 15 lakh from the Thane-based jeweller in 2015-16. Shaikh had learned that the jeweller was trying to sell a land parcel in Thane, and informed Sayyad and Kaskar about the same.
The trio started threatening the jeweller, who refused to go ahead with the potential deal after realising they were D-gang henchmen. Thereafter, Sayyad and Shaikh, along with Kaskar, went to his shop and allegedly extorted ornaments worth Rs 15 lakh from him.