Over the past decade, around two dozen alleged gangsters and criminals have been deported—some of them in a high-profile manner—from various countries to India. However, the Mumbai police have struggled to get convictions against most of them, reports Times of India.
Records show that of 23 suspected gangsters—22 of whom were deported to India and one extradited—the police have so far secured convictions against only four of the accused. The four have been convicted in just a single case each.
They are gangsters Mustafa Dossa, Ejaz Pathan, Tariq Parveen and Anil Parab. Parveen and Parab were acquitted in all other cases they faced.
Parveen, an aide of Dawood's brother Iqbal Kaskar, is now out on bail after appealing against his single conviction. Of the four, only Mustafa, a 1993 serial blasts convict, and Parab, a D-gang member, remain in jail. Pathan died in prison in 2008.
Nine of the 23 deportees have been completely acquitted of all charges by the courts. They include names like Iqbal Kaskar and Raj Kumar alias Raju Chikna, a Dawood man who faced a double murder charge.
Six of those acquitted—Lambu Shakeel, Shahid Qureshi, Jameel Jabbar, Sanjay Baba, Mustafa Gulam, Abdul Aziz Dholakia and Jack Jameeel — were part of the infamous ‘dirty dozen' who were deported in 2008. They had been alleged to be extortionists for the Chhota Shakeel gang. Shahid Qureshi alias Miya is Chhota Shakeel's brother-in-law and allegedly threatened several businessmen on behalf of the don.
Also a member of the ‘dirty dozen' was Arif Aboobakar, alias Bhaijaan, the brother-in-law of Chhota Shakeel. In a big jolt to the police earlier this January, they had to themselves drop charges against Bhaijaan in all extortion cases due to lack of evidence and witnesses. Bhaijaan had allegedly operated Shakeel's gang from Dubai. He was also acquitted by a Pota court in Gujarat earlier this year in connection with a Godhra riots case after two witnesses turned hostile.
The only case pending against him is a Malad land-grabbing case and he is out on bail in it.
Also out on bail is Iqbal Attarwala, another close Shakeel aide. Attarwala was booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the Malad land-grab case, but MCOCA has been dropped and only Indian Penal Code charges remain. He was also booked in a cheating case, but has been acquitted in it. Another accused out on bail is Mohammed Salim alias Salim Fruit. He faces charges in only one case and has been acquitted in another.
Officials in the intelligence network hold the Mumbai police responsible for weak cases and the low conviction rate. “Forget acquittals, the Mumbai police have not even appealed against acquittals, except in the Iqbal Kaskar case. It is still pending before the court,'' said a public prosecutor who did not wish to be named.
However, an official in the Mumbai crime branch, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “There are several reasons for the failure to get convictions. First, the accused have been deported to India a long time after the crimes were committed. The investigating officers involved have either retired or they have been transferred out of the city. Witnesses have died and files—including forensic evidence—have gone missing, among other things.'' The official claimed, “Times are changing. We are now safeguarding the evidence and papers.''
Most of the deportees have come from the United Arab Emirates.
Sources said that many were forced to fly to India by UAE authorities as they were staying illegally in Dubai, without valid passports. Pressure was put on Dubai after the 9/11 attacks and the 2000 murder of Dawood right-hand man and hotelier Sharad Shetty alias Anna. He was killed in inter-gang rivalry.
The American government continuously pressured UAE authorities to take strict action against illegal residents in the international business hub.
Seven of the accused—including Abu Salem, who was extradited from Portugal—remain in jail with cases and trials pending against them.
