Mumbai police share details of Chhota Shakeel cases with Thane cops'

Thane police had sought this information to see whether they can invoke the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the Thane case in which Dawood's younger brother, Iqbal Kaskar, has been arrested.

"Thane police had requested us to provide details of the cases against Chhota Shakeel and we have provided them all the required information," an official said.

"It was to study whether they can invoke the stringent MCOCA in the extortion cases, registered in Thane in which Dawood Ibrahim, his brothers Anees and Iqbal, close aide Chhota Shakeel and other gang members shown as accused," he added.

According to the official, Thane police are taking legal help to invoke MCOCA in extortion racket in which Iqbal Kaskar was arrested by its Anti Extortion Cell (AEC).

"To invoke MCOCA, there should be two chargesheets that proceeded to trial by a sessions court against one of the accused in the last 10 years. Shakeel's earlier cases can be a perfect base to invoke MCOCA in current extortion case, as there are more than two charge sheets proceeded to trial in the court," he said.

The police official, "Chhota Shakeel has dozens of charge sheets proceeded to trial by sessions court in the last 10 years, so police are examining whether this can be of help in invoking MCOCA in Thane extortion cases."

Kaskar and two of his aides - Mumtaz Sheikh and Israr Ali Jamil Sayyad -- were arrested on September 18 by the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of Thane Police, led by "encounter specialist" Pradeep Sharma and his team, in an extortion 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.

A few days back, Kaskar and his gang members were also booked in one more case of extorting Rs 3 crore from a prominent builder in north Mumbai.

According to the official, while going through his past cases, which were charge sheeted against these accused, police found that Iqbal Kaskar was acquitted in two cases. The last charge sheet filed against Dawood Ibrahim was in 1999 at Bandra Police Station.

"Matka king Pankaj Gangar was recently arrested for funding Chhota Shakeel through hawala was also an accused in Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar murder case in which he was later acquitted," he said.