07 March,2017 09:50 AM IST | | Suraj Ojha and Santosh Wagh
These women had been leading a normal life till they started visiting their family members lodged in Arthur Road Jail. Their usual visits took an unusual turn when they came in contact with members of Dawood Ibrahim's gang
Rizwana Shaikh was the gang go-between
These women had been leading a normal life till they started visiting their family members lodged in Arthur Road Jail. Their usual visits took an unusual turn when they came in contact with members of Dawood Ibrahim's gang and became instrumental in planning the murder of a Rajkot-based developer.
Just a day after the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of Mumbai police arrested the two women, it has been revealed that one of the them, Rizwana Shaikh (38), was involved in passing information from Dawood's brother Anees Ibrahim to the shooters, while the other, former maid Ashwini Ranit (22), acted as a cover for getting funds from Dubai to execute the killing.
In February, the AEC with the help of Rajkot police, had arrested four accused identified as Ramdas Rahane, Satish Kamble alias Satya, Vinod Hande, Rahul Tiwari and Sachin Shelke, while they were on their way to eliminate the businessman.
The informer
A Crime Branch officer said, "Rizwana used to visit her son Salman lodged in Arthur Road Jail. Salman was arrested in connection with a murder case. During her visits, she came in contact with Anees's henchman, Dashrath Rane. He then introduced her to Anees and the other members of the gang. She eventually became the medium of information exchange. But how she benefited from it is still unknown. She has been handed over to the Rajkot police as the case is registered with them."
Fund flow
On the other hand, Ashwini came in contact with the sharpshooter and history-sheeter Rahane, when she used to visit the jail to meet her father.
A police source said, "Ashwini was working as a maid till she met Rahane. Thereafter, she left her job and started acting as a cover to receive funds.
Rahane had given her bank account number to the D-gang for transactions. He used to withdraw cash from her account as per his requirement. They used to behave like a couple and had even conducted a recce in Rajkot together to execute the killing."
