After Rs 45 lakh Dongri haul, Mumbai cops suspect underworld link to gutkha smuggling – Times of India

MUMBAI: Initial police probe into the gutkha smuggling racket busted in the city last week with seizure of illicit goods worth Rs 45 lakh indicates it could be controlled by the underworld from foreign shores.
The city crime branch has handed over the case to its anti-extortion cell (AEC) for an in-depth probe. The underworld-controlled smuggling in the city is feared to be worth Rs 1,000 crore.
Earlier, the police had established a nexus between gutkha barons Rasiklal Dhariwal (who passed away) and Jagdish Joshi with designated terrorist and gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Anees Ibrahim, who had used them to set up a gutkha manufacturing company in Karachi in Pakistan. Last month, the special MCOCA court awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment to Joshi, Farukh Mansuri and Jamiruddin Ansari in the case.
On Thursday, the social service branch of the police had raided flats in Umarkhadi and New Bangalipura in Dongri and seized small quantities of banned gutkha, pan masala pouches and chewing tobacco, cash of Rs 30,300 and detained seven persons.
After interrogation, the police raided five-six godowns in the vicinity of Dongri, including one in Umarkhadi and another at Ruby building, a transit camp, and seized gutkha, pan masala and chewing tobacco of various brands worth Rs 45 lakh.
The godown owners, Abu Khan and Azim Khan, who are among the seven held, told the police they have been dealing in the products for a few years as their demand has increased since the ban on gutkha. These are being brought in from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka and supplied by Asif Mazgaon, Sunny Thakur and Waqar Bhiwandiwala at wholesale prices.
All seven have been remanded to police custody after being accused under IPC sections 328, 273, 199, and various sections of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011.
The police believe the arrested accused are small fry and the main players may be operating from abroad. “Scouring of the call detail reports (CDR) of two of the accused found them linked to an international syndicate as they were talking to someone on international numbers,” said an officer.
The police said main accused Abu Khan is a history-sheeter with 18 offences, mostly of gutkha smuggling, at Dongri police station alone. The gang has been supplying these banned products near various high schools and colleges and though Khan was externed, he continues to indulge in smuggling with his international connections. Azim Khan and another accused Farhan Batatewala had been arrested earlier for gutkha smuggling by JJ Marg police.