Byculla to Bangkok

by S. Hussain Zaidi

  A. He was not my financier. These are only filmi stories. I have never met Om Prakash Kukreja in my life. His brother Mohan was a friend of mine and I used to speak to him occasionally on the phone.

  Q. The Bombay police has announced an award of Rs 2 lakh for anyone who provides information on Wahid’s killers. Why don’t you claim the award?

  A. I don’t want that money. It is compensation enough that the operation was successful. There can be no greater satisfaction than that.

  Q. Apart from killings, what are your other activities? The police believe that you smuggle narcotics.

  A. I have never touched drugs in my life. I don’t believe in earning money through spoiling people’s lives and hurting them.

  Q. You have hurt Wahid’s family.

  A. What about the hundreds who were killed in the blasts and what about their families? They were truly innocent. Wahid should never have involved himself with Dawood.

  Q. You were also very close to him till only two years ago...

  A. Yes, and that is the only regret I have. Not that I am part of the underworld but that I associated with a man like Dawood.

  Q. Are you sure he is in Karachi?

  A. Yes. Initially, just before I left Dubai, I had his telephone number there and even called him to see if I had been given the correct number. That number has obviously changed but I know from my sources that he is still there. The number, in fact, was given to me by Sunil Sawant. I called him once to wish him on his birthday (26 December). He does travel out of Pakistan once in a while but Karachi is his base. Gone are the days when celebrities used to seek his company. When even saints like Chandraswami wanted to meet him.

  Q. Chandraswami has gone on oath before the Jain Commission saying that he has never met Dawood.

  A. That is the biggest lie I have ever heard. I was very much part of the Dawood circle in late 1989–early 1990 when Chandraswami came to Dubai. I was the one who went to pick him up at the airport. He stayed in Dubai for three to four days at Chhota Shakeel’s (a close aide of Dawood) house, where Dawood used to come and meet him.

  Q. What happened in those meetings?

  A. I don’t know because they used to sit alone in a separate room. Chandraswami used to play astrologer and he always maintained that he would predict the future but in private.

  Q. Did he predict yours as well?

  A. Yes, he told me that I would have no problem with Dawood but that I would fall out with his brothers. Obviously that was all wrong.

  Q. Your fight is not with Dawood’s brothers?

  A. I have nothing against them so far and I know that Dawood didn’t involve his brothers in the conspiracy. In any case, neither he nor I want to involve our families in the war. My brothers are happily staying in the village along with our mother.

  Q. Why did Dawood and Chandraswami meet?

  A. I don’t know the details but what I do know is that Dawood was keen on meeting Adnan Khashoggi. Dawood and Chandraswami flew to America from Dubai. I was also supposed to accompany them but I didn’t get a visa.

  Q. Did they return together as well?

  A. No, Dawood came back with a lot of photographs of the three of them together and I remember him criticizing Chandraswami saying he is no godman, he only talks of projects and money.

  Q. Did Babloo Srivastava arrange the meeting between Dawood and Chandraswami?

  A. No. The meeting was arranged by Bombay-based friends of Dawood. Chandraswami flew to Dubai and I received him at the airport. All that, however, is in the past now, for even in Pakistan Dawood is not living freely. He is pretty much in hiding, but how long can these rats stay underground? I will teach them a lesson even if I have to pay with my life.

  Q. You are involved in the property business in Bombay in a big way. According to estimates, you make several crores through contract killings, property business and protection money.

  A. Several crores a year, not in a day.

  Q. What will you do with so much money?

  A. I need the money to weaken Dawood’s gang.

  Q. You can weaken him by surrendering and cooperating with the police ...

  A. I don’t trust the government because a lot of them are mixed up. Dawood is capable of buying officials and turning them against me.

  Q. You must be using the same tactics – building contacts in the police and political circles.

  A. I don’t believe in using money because the person who takes money from me can sell himself to anyone, Dawood included. Nor do I have any political godfathers. Yes, I am a supporter of the BJP and the Shiv Sena. One of Dawood’s aides said recently that Bal Thackeray was number one on their hit list. All I want to say is that if necessary we will provide protection. No one can touch Thackeray saab. Dawood won’t be doing his own Muslim brothers a favour by trying to touch Thackeray, for then all hell will break loose.

  Q. So, you have approached the Shiv Sena.

  A. No, I have not. But they only have to give us a hint and we will be at their service.

  Q. So it is true that there is some sort of a communal divide even in the underworld?

  A. Not in my mind. I still have a lot of Muslims working with me and I consider all Muslims my brothers. Dawood too has Hindus even in his inner circle, like Sharad Shetty and Anil Parab.

  Q. Why are you talking of religion and Hindu-Muslim amity? As far as the police is concerned, you are an underworld hitman who has jumped bail.

  A. All of us in the underworld are hitmen. And why can’t I speak on behalf of my country? I am not interested in destabilizing the country through blasts and provoking communal riots.

  Q. So killings are okay if the aim is settling personal scores?

  A. I have been let down by Dawood. That doesn’t hurt me as much as the blasts do. I will stop only after I have finished Dawood and Tiger Memon and I have set a target of a year for myself to accomplish that.

  Q. How do you manage to remote control?

  A. It is the age of communication. The telephone is my weapon.

  Q. Have you met Tiger Memon?

  A. Several times. He used to come to Dubai often to meet Dawood. He also came to attend my wedding in 1988. Dawood and Tiger have a long association. He was in Dubai even during the riots and before the blasts; Tiger and Dawood went to Karachi together where they stayed at Taufiq Jalliawala’s house.

  Q. Dawood has established and earned for himself the title of don. You talk very confidently of catching up with someone who was once your boss.

  A. I am very confident. It is you press people who have made a petty smuggler and criminal out to be a don. Today it is not his writ but mine which runs in Bombay. Dawood, in fact, is under pressure. His men are hiding in Bombay and if we can penetrate Dubai too, which was once his unchallenged domain, then what kind of a don is he? He is now only a fugitive who won’t be able to run for too long. It is not me alone but Arun Gawli too, for we have joined hands and together are more powerful even in Bombay. All our actions and activities are coordinated, for we are now working together.

  Q. You are also on the run. Are you scared of Dawood?

  A. I am not scared of him. In fact, I’m prepared to take him on face to face. If I am in hiding, it is only because I have an unfinished agenda. The day I get him, I will come back to India and surrender. You might think I am in hiding but as far as I am concerned, I am being practical. Why should I offer myself to them when I know that they must also be in search of me? After all, they have managed to kill my friends and associates too.

  Q. Subhash Thakur, one of Dawood’s associates who is now in custody, has said that Dawood wanted him to eliminate you.

  A. That is true and I knew about it. They had, in fact, planned to throw me off a launch but I didn’t go to that launch party. I kept a distance after three of my associates were killed and finally left Dubai in July 1993.

  Q. How long will you continue to hide? Aren’t you fed up with the kind of life you’re leading? Running from the law is als
o an offence.

  A. I cannot surface as long as there is a threat to my life. I will return once my task is over and then I am willing to face trial and go to jail if necessary. But only after I have taught Dawood a lesson.

  Q. Is your family prepared for this?

  A. After all they are also keen on returning to their country and living a normal life.

  Q. You’ve never thought of taking up a job?

  A. I was working with the German pharmaceutical firm Hoechst where my father also worked as a storekeeper. Later, because of the company I kept, I became involved with the underworld. It’s been a long journey. From selling cinema tickets in black to travelling to Southeast Asia.

  (Courtesy India Today, 31 January 1996.)

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  The Afghani Affliction

  Death comes in all avatars: in the form of a business associate, a friend, or even in the guise of a bewitching beauty.

  Ayesha Qandahari was a woman of indescribable beauty, an Afghani with flawless skin, big, dark eyes, long eyelashes, a mesmerizing smile and a perfect-ten figure. Men would kill to possess her. But it seemed that those who made love to her were destined for certain death.

  India’s biggest druglord, who dealt in heroin, Nareyi Khan alias Nari Khan, was totally smitten by her charms. (Incidentally, Nareyi means ‘on the way to heaven’ in the Pashto language.) Nari believed his name took on its real meaning when he met Ayesha. He threw money at her to woo her.

  Nari’s affluence and naiveté caught the eye of Ayesha, who was married to Jannat Gul Qandahari, a well-to-do Pathan who was not quite in the league of Nari Khan.

  Before Nari Khan came into their lives, the couple had been happily married. All that changed when Nari set eyes on Ayesha’s beauty for the first time at one of the Pathan gatherings. He became besotted with her and immediately wanted to marry her.

  Ayesha was dazzled by Nari’s wealth and agreed to ditch her husband. Gul, a simple Pathan, was too much in love with Ayesha to divorce her just because she fancied another man. He was just not willing to let her go. Seeing that Ayesha was impressed with Nari’s wealth and opulent life style, Gul put his entire wealth, including his flat, car and other assets in her name to stop her from leaving him. But Ayesha was not impressed by the gesture. A heartbroken Gul hit the bottle and was reduced to a Devdas-like state.

  Ayesha began a torrid affair with Nari and Gul finally left her and took refuge at the Aga Miyan dargah in Akola. It is not known whether he formally divorced her. In any case, Ayesha and Nari were too involved with each other to care. But the story continued, ominously. After Gul was destroyed, it was Nari Khan’s turn.

  Towards the end of 1994, Nari attempted to deal in one of the biggest heroin consignments ever, of 355 kg, and got busted. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sleuths raided his house in Mazgaon, near Dongri in south Mumbai, and seized the contraband. They booked him under the Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Nari’s downfall had begun.

  Ayesha did not want to dump Nari yet. She began coordinating with her lawyers to take care of the legal paperwork. Nari was pleased with her dedication – little understanding her foresight – and remained enamoured of her.

  Soon, Nari’s obsession with Ayesha became known to the NDPS community. This was a close-knit group of people who frequented the three specially designated NDPS courts on the first floor of the old building in the City Civil and Sessions Court precincts, near Fort in south Mumbai: lawyers, police officers from NCB or the Anti Narcotics Cell of the Mumbai police, orderlies, paralegals and others who were involved in the cases.

  Often, the NDPS cases were only heard in two courts, while the third court remained vacant. The cops began using it to eat their meals, as a place where the accused could wait, or where relatives could meet undertrials. Nari bribed the constables into allowing him and Ayesha sole access to this court; he told them to lock the door and stand guard outside. Nari and Ayesha’s love nest thrived at the expense of other undertrials, who were denied access to the comforts of the empty courtroom. Every time Nari was called to the court for a hearing, Ayesha and he ended up making love in that empty courtroom. The hectic love-making left Nari Khan totally drained but satisfied with life, as he confided in his lawyer. He had no complaints about his protracted trial, as long as he could see his jaan. Several months later, one spunky lawyer discovered his use of the empty courtroom and complained to the judge, who promptly put an end to it.

  Ayesha had managed to win Nari’s trust to the extent that he gave her power of attorney to withdraw money from his bank account or even liquidate his assets. She had been waiting for just this moment.

  Around this time, Ayesha was drawn towards a handsome young man, Khalid Usman, scion of a Bandra-based tycoon. Khalid often took her for a spin in his Mercedes and spent money lavishly on her. It took Ayesha no time at all to become cold and indifferent towards Nari, who was flummoxed by her sudden transformation.

  Nari was lodged at the Arthur Road jail. His cellmate Askandar Shah recalls, ‘He was so distraught at the woman’s betrayal that he wept for hours, even his long beard got soaked with tears.’ He spent weeks and months nursing his grief and hoping that someday Ayesha would return to him, knowing that no one could love her the way he did. But he cried in vain. Ayesha had dumped him for good, never to return.

  Now, Nari was no Jannat Gul Khan to end up at the dargah of a Sufi saint. He was an internationally connected druglord with unlimited resources at his disposal and powerful connections. Naved Khan, the fugitive drug baron, had introduced Nari Khan and Amar Naik to each other. Naik and Nari had business associations and met frequently in Ahmedabad, where the Pathan syndicate had massive clout, a safe base and hideouts. It was with Nari’s collusion that Naik had managed to make it big in the drug business despite being a Maharashtrian.

  Nari shared his cell in jail with men from the Amar Naik gang, who were accused in the killing of industrialist Sunit Khatau, and they treated him quite deferentially. During one of his hearings, Nari met an errand boy of the Naik gang and ordered a hit: he gave them supari to kill Khalid Usman and Ayesha.

  It was now Khalid’s turn to feel the kiss of disgrace. A man who had never seen infamy in his life and who hailed from a respectable family, ended up tarnishing their image irreparably.

  Nari’s declaration of a bounty on the head of Khalid and Ayesha reached the ears of the crime branch. They realized that a gang that did not hesitate to kill an industrialist like Khatau would have no qualms about killing anyone. The intelligence was strong, so they resorted to the age-old method of protecting their informers – putting them in jail.

  The cops told Ayesha that the only way to protect Khalid was to detain him in a false NDPS case. He could be acquitted later and walk free. Ayesha was too scared to not agree to the arrangement. The crime branch cops then framed Khalid in a false NDPS case and threw him behind bars.

  Khalid was saved, but Ayesha was still vulnerable. A senior cop befriended her and began giving her company. It must be said that this time Ayesha was trying to save herself from a jilted lover and was not drawn to the cop because of his money.

  Khalid’s family was very upset at the turn of events. They hired top-notch NDPS lawyers to get their son released. It was advocate Ayaz Khan who managed to demolish the false case and get Khalid an acquittal, but not before he had spent months in police custody.

  Nari, meanwhile, was burning with the fire of revenge. He could not tolerate the fact that Ayesha was alive and sleeping with men of her choice and having fun with his money. He wanted to retrieve his assets and kill her as gruesomely as possible. He hired the most expensive battery of lawyers to get himself bail or acquittal.

  Ayesha, who heard of Nari’s plans through her cop boyfriend, began working on ensuring that Nari was convicted. She wanted him to spend the rest of his life in jail. She came up with a diabolical plan, which impressed even her boyfriend. If the presiding judge was threatened in some way, on
behalf of Nari, she said, he could be misled into thinking that Nari was actually guilty and he would convict him.

  They began working on the plan, but Ayesha, who had fooled so many people around her, could not deceive the judiciary. Her game plan was exposed and the judge acquitted Nari Khan of the NDPS charges.

  Nari was now a free man, and ready to execute the killing of Khalid, Ayesha and her current boyfriend. He decided to use his friend Naik’s lethal operatives and began hatching a plot to kill Ayesha after raping and disfiguring her.

  Nari had by now managed to make inroads into the Naik gang and knew most of the gang members. As Amar Naik dealt in drugs and was in touch with the drug cartels of the Pathan gang of Ahmedabad, he was only too happy to assist Nari and get closer to him in the process.

  It was an association of mutual benefit. Nari needed Amar to kill Ayesha and her boyfriends and Amar needed Nari to bolster his drug trade. There was implicit trust between the two, born of their need.

  But when the roulette of destiny starts spinning, no one knows who will win and who will lose.

  TWENTY-NINE

  Gawli’s War on the Shiv Sena

  For the first time in the history of the state of Maharashtra, the Congress–I was routed in the state assembly elections in March 1995. The Shiv Sena, which had only dreamt of such a day for 29 years, managed a jubilant victory with its alliance partner, the BJP. Political observers noted that the BJP–Shiv Sena combine rode to victory on the back of a communal wave post the Babri Masjid demolition, which had polarized the state and the country. Marathi-speaking people in the state were excited; they were expecting several benefits to come their way, and some clean governance. Particularly for those from the coastal Konkan belt, the victory seemed very personal as they had always felt sidelined by the Congress-I government, which leaned more towards western Maharashtra and the sugar belt. The bulk of Bal Thackeray’s supporters came from those coastal parts – Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Sawantwadi, etc. – and most of them were mill workers.