Arrest of Mirchi's aide turns the spotlight on corporate-underworld nexus

History shows that links between corporate powerhouses and terror financing are not new. Nor are they restricted to industries such as cinema or real estate

The arrest of Humayun Merchant, a close aide of late gangster Muhammad Iqbal Memon, alias Iqbal Mirchi, by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has once again turned the spotlight on the unholy nexus between the underworld and the powers that be. 

Days before Merchant’s arrest and the confiscation of property involved in alleged money laundering, the ED had questioned former aviation minister Praful Patel. Patel’s reality firm Millennium Developers allegedly built CeeJay House, a building in Worli (Mumbai), with undeclared assets owned by Mirchi, who was one of the top associates of India’s public enemy No. 1 — Dawood Ibrahim. 

History