One of the three accused arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a case concerning Dawood Ibrahim's terror and criminal activities, is an office bearer of the Congress Party in Mira Road.
Witness spills the beans
A key witness has said this in the agency's chargesheet filed in the case last month. The chargesheet names Arif Shaikh, Chhota Shakeel's relative Salim Fruit and Shabbir Shaikh as the arrested accused. Dawood and Shakeel are named as wanted accused by the agency.
The witness, whose identity and other particulars are not revealed for security reasons, added in the statement that Shabbir had not got the party's ticket in a municipal election.
A number of witnesses whose statements form a part of the chargesheet have stated of Shabbir being the step-brother of Arif Shaikh, who was married to Fahmida – the real sister of Shakeel – who passed away during the pandemic in 2020. Several witnesses (some victims) narrated of the extortion activities of Arif and Shabbir using the name of Shakeel.
Witness confirms duo being in contact with Chhota Shakeel
Another protected witness stated that the duo was in direct contact with Shakeel through WhatsApp and was the “only authority” to deal with the gangster.
The witness said that Arif would record an audio message on his phone and send it to Shabbir, who would in turn send it to Shakeel through a person in Dubai.
The witness said that Shakeel would avoid direct contact and create layers between him and others to avoid identification, but would accept messages only from the duo.
An interesting witness in the agency's chargesheet is a 68-year-old actor who said he got acquainted with Fruit after a builder friend introduced them during the inauguration of Fruit's medical shop near JJ Hospital. He said Fruit had asked at one point why he looked upset and he had confided that his friend had taken Rs 36 lakh from him and not returned the amount.
The actor said Fruit told him he would make a mutual friend – a Bandra-based builder – contact that friend and that he would get his money back. The actor said he contacted Fruit many times regarding this, but he would ignore the call or make excuses.
