Six out of the total seven properties of India’s most wanted Dawood Ibrahim were auctioned by the government on Tuesday. In the process, the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Authority (SAFEMA) fetched Rs 22.79 lakh. Two properties were bought by two Delhi-based lawyers. Advocate Bhupendra Kumar Bharadwaj who bought four parcels of land at a reserve price said he will open “an anti-terrorist national front at these locations”.
The properties registered in the names of Dawood’s mother Amina Bi and sister Haseena Parker were auctioned under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange (Forfeiture of Property) (SAFEMA) Act. Advocate Ajay Shrivastava said bought two other properties above the reserved price. These include a dilapidated two-story bungalow frequented by Dawood and siblings before they fled the country in the 1990s. Another property listed could not be sold due to ‘technical reason’. Dawood aide late Iqbal Mirchi’s flat in Milton Apartments on Juhu Tara Road in Santacruz (West) also saw no bidders. The 1,245 sq ft flat has a reserve price of Rs 3.45 crore. SAFEMA Additional Commissioner RN D’Souza said the highest bid for two of the properties went from the reserve price of Rs 1.89 lakh and Rs 5.35 lakh to Rs 4.3 lakh and Rs 11.2 lakh respectively. He also said that the other properties went for their base prices.
Bharadwaj, 42, a practicing lawyer in the Supreme Court said when he came face to face with Dawood’s uncle Ismail Kaskar when he had gone to inspect the property on November 2. “I was threatened by Kaskar the moment I arrived at the site. He said ‘may Allah keep you in his blessings may he shower his mercy on you. The way he behaved was threatening. I thanked him and went ahead to inspect,” said Bharadwaj. Bharadwaj said he participated in auctioning earlier as well but was not able to buy the property. He says he plans to make anti-terrorism centers in the properties he successfully bid for.
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