Ahmedraza Wadhariya, arrested by the Mumbai police Crime Branch with the nephew of wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, is a hawala operator for the ‘D Gang’ with a network stretching across Mumbai, Gujarat and Dubai, investigating officers said on Friday.
Mr. Wadhariya, Dawood’s brother Iqbal Kaskar’s son Rizwan Kaskar and Ashfaq Towelwala were arrested earlier this week by the Anti Extortion Cell for allegedly making extortion calls to a Mumbai-based businessman.
Crime Branch officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, asserted that Wadhariya plays a major role in Dawood’s criminal network and was handling a large chunk of the gang’s money in India.
‘Hails from Gujarat’
“Wadhariya hails from Gujarat and has had close ties with the D Gang for several years,” said a Crime Branch officer. “His role is to move money for the gang from Dubai to Mumbai, Mumbai to Gujarat and Gujarat to Dubai through a network of hawala channels. He has a large number of operatives in all three locations, including businessmen who deal in large amounts of cash daily,” the officer added.
The officer said the system operated on fear, with Sheikh Mohammed Faheem alias Faheem Machmach, one of the top lieutenants for the D Gang, acting as the muscle. Machmach is said to be very close to Shakeel Babumiyaan Sheikh alias Chhota Shakeel, is Dawood’s right-hand man.
