In Clampdown On Assets Of Crime Syndicates, ED Nabs 2 Aides of Iqbal Mirchi, Close Accomplice Of Dawood Ibrahim

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has launched a big crackdown on assets - movable and immovable, acquired by crime syndicates across the country.

In a first step, the ED arrested two associates of late Iqbal Mirchi, who was a close accomplice of underworld fugitive Dawood Ibrahim, in a money laundering case for facilitating a land deal of more than Rs 225 crore. The accused, who are from Mumbai, have been identified as Haroun Yusuf and Ranjeet Singh Bindra.

Bindra acted as a broker for the land deal while Yusuf transferred the money to a Trust and facilitated the deal. The agency found that Yusuf became a British national in 2004 and played a crucial role in illegal dealings and land deal between Mirchi and developers that were carried out by Bindra for brokerage of around Rs 30 crore.

The agency has found that Mirchi after selling properties in Mumbai purchased a five star hotel in Dubai. The agency has alleged that his son Junaid Iqbal Memon and his associates have managed to dispose of assets owned and controlled by Mirchi in India.

The agency had filed a criminal case of money laundering against Yusuf and Bindra on the basis of an FIR registered by Mumbai police against Mirchi and others. Memon Iqbal Mohammed alias Iqbal Mirchi was wanted by the police in a dozen cases of murder, attempt to murder, criminal intimidation, extortion, and drug trafficking in Mumbai.

However, he was not an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts. An Interpol red corner notice was issued against Mirchi in 1994. After the blasts, he fled to Dubai and from there he shifted base to London, where he passed away in 2013.

(With Inputs from IANS)