Dawood Ibrahim sent Mumbai man in terror plot to Bahrain to kill another aide: Cops

Gangster Dawood Ibrahim. File pic

Jan Mohammed Shaikh, the Dharavi resident arrested in connection with a terror plot, had gone to Bahrain in 2019 to assassinate a gangster previously associated with Dawood Ibrahim, sources in Mumbai police's Crime Branch told mid-day. According to officers, Shaikh was given the contract to kill Ali Budesh on Dawood's instruction, however, he returned without finishing the job.

The Special Cell of Delhi police arrested Shaikh, alias Sameer Kaliya, from Rajasthan on Monday for allegedly planning terror attacks across India, including in Maharashtra. According to information received by the Crime Branch, Shaikh was in Bahrain for a few days, but didn't kill Budesh as he feared for his life. Confirming the revelation, a police officer, on condition of anonymity, said, "Police have verified that Shaikh had gone to Bahrain in 2019 and had also received money from Fahim Machmach."

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Sources in the Crime Branch told mid-day that when Shaikh was in Bahrain, he saw statues of Budesh there and figured that he won't be able to return to India if he killed him. Because of this fear, Shaikh did not kill Budesh, the sources added. Budesh was initially associated with the Dawood gang, said officers. It was Dawood's people who took Budesh to Dubai and introduced him to the most wanted gangster. However, later, Budesh's relations with the Dawood gang soured. He then joined hands with the enemies of Dawood in Pakistan and settled in Bahrain. Budesh has been passing on information of the Dawood gang to the international police agencies, the officers added. Because of this, Dawood had asked Chhota Shakeel to get Budesh killed. Shakeel then gave the responsibility to Fahim Machmach, who gave the contract to Shaikh. Machmach died in Karachi, Pakistan, last month. Budesh was active in the 1980s and fled abroad in the late 80s, fearing the Mumbai police.

Sources in the Crime Branch said Mumbai police will share the information about Shaikh's links to Dawood gang with their Delhi counterpart. Mumbai police will also collect any information Delhi Special Cell gathers in connection with Shaikh and Dawood.

Monday
Day Jan Mohammed Shaikh was arrested by Delhi cops