Dawood aide Takla sent to CBI custody till March 19: Why his arrest matters

Takla, against whom a Red Corner Notice was issued in 1995, had fled from India after the 1993 Mumbai blasts

Dawood Ibrahim's aide Yasin Mansoor Mohamed Farooq, alias Farooq Takla, wanted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts, was Thursday sent to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody till March 19 by a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court in Mumbai. He was arrested at an immigration counter at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday morning.

While the CBI declined to comment on how he reached Delhi as an Interpol Red Corner notice was pending against him, officials said Farooq was deported from the UAE with the help of central intelligence agencies and put on a flight to Delhi. 
 

According to the Interpol, the charges against him include criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder, and voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means, among others. Takla had fled from India after the 1993 Mumbai blasts. 

According to senior advocate Ujjwal Nikam, the deporting of Yasin Mansoor Mohamed Farooq indicates that diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India are going to be stronger in the coming days. He said Takla’s arrest is a “big catch for India”. 

The Mumbai blast of March 12, 1993, resulted in 257 fatalities and over 700 were injured. The attacks were planned by Dawood Ibrahim, India's 'most wanted' fugitive, who also has his name prominently figuring on the 'most wanted' lists of the US and the Interpol.

Who is Farooq Takla and why is he wanted

Farooq Takla's birth name, according to the Interpol Red Corner Notice issued against him, is Yasin Mansoor Mohamed Farooq. Takla was born in Mumbai on February 17, 1961. 

According to the Interpol notice, he is described as being of a "flabby build". He has "protruding eyes" that are set in an "oval face" and he moves with a limp following a fracture in his left leg.   

Source: Interpol


 

Officials said 57-year-old Takla used to facilitate the travel of men from Dubai to Karachi without immigration checks, for their training in making bombs and use of sophisticated weapons.

Farooq used to send men from Dubai to Karachi and back with the help of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, claimed Suresh Walishetty, a retired assistant commissioner of police, who was one of the investigating officers in the serial blasts case.

Because of this, investigators of Mumbai police were not able to collect evidence of the movement of men from Dubai to Karachi for the training purpose, he said.

He was a hawala operator in the Gulf since the early 1990s and had not taken shelter in Pakistan, like his mentor Dawood, a security official said.

The gangster had left Mumbai after a bitter rivalry with the Arun Gawli gang.

In September 1992, Shailesh Haldankar of the Gawli gang was killed by the Dawood group while he was recuperating in J J hospital. It was allegedly done to revenge the killing of Dawood's brother-in-law Ibrahim Parkar, who was killed near his residence in 1992 allegedly by two members of the Gawli gang.

Takla was a key facilitator for stay and opening businesses for all the 1993 Mumbai blasts accused, who had left India before and after the attacks in the metropolis, the official said.

While Dawood and his family, another Mumbai blasts accused Tiger Memon and his family had left Dubai after a few years and taken shelter in Pakistan, Takla continued to live in the Gulf with his ever-increasing 'hawala' trading, another official said.

Takla has been mostly operating from Dubai and a few other places in the Gulf with an assumed name. 

Commenting on the news of Farooq Takla being brought to India, NCP leader and senior criminal lawyer Majeed Memon said: "Fact he has returned, shows he has expressed his willingness to come back for trial. He'll certainly be remanded to custody, there's no question of bail being granted to him. Till next development he'll be in jail."

"This is a huge success. He was involved in 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts the links of which can be traced back to Dubai. This is a big-blow to D-Gang", senior advocate Ujjwal Nikam told news agency ANI on Takla's capture.  

The 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case:

In September last year, a Mumbai court sentenced extradited gangster Abu Salem to life imprisonment in the 1993 serial blasts case that shook the financial capital of the country leaving 257 dead, besides damaging property to the tune of Rs 820 million (Rs 82 crore). Besides Salem, the court also sentenced Karimullah Khan to life imprisonment.

A special TADA court had in June convicted six persons, including mastermind Mustafa Dossa and Salem, in the blasts case, 24 years after the attacks left 257 people dead in the country's financial capital. It, however, let off accused Abdul Quayyum, for want of evidence.

That was the second leg of the trial. All the seven accused were facing multiple charges that included criminal conspiracy, waging war against the Government of India, and murder.

Takla's boss 'keen' to return to India

While we do not know whether Takla wished to return to India, his boss, Dawood Ibrahim, is reportedly ready to return to India. Mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar is reportedly "keen to return to India", but with certain preconditions, which are not acceptable to the Indian government, criminal lawyer Shyam Keswani said earlier this week.  

According to news agencies, the lawyer said that among the conditions Dawood had stipulated was that he should be lodged only in the highly-secure precincts of Arthur Road Central Jail (ARCJ) in Mumbai. 

"He had also conveyed his intentions through (former union minister and eminent lawyer) Ram Jethmalani a few years ago but the Indian government has not entertained any of his preconditions to return," Keswani had said.

Dawood and Tiger Memon had sent some people to Dubai from India much before the serial blasts, to provide logistical support to those who were to be trained for executing the blasts.

Officials said India's engagements with West Asia have increased in last few years and the results were showing with the deportation of several gangsters and wanted terrorists in recent past.

India's sustained campaign against Dawood was finally acknowledged by America in 2003 when the US Treasury department declared him a global terrorist having links with al-Qaeda. He also faces sanctions from the United Nations under its anti-terror resolution.

Vindicating India's position that Pakistan has been sheltering Dawood, the treasury department had said he was in Karachi and possessed a Pakistani passport under the individual category.