3 Dawood properties sold to Burhani trust

Three properties belonging to fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim were sold to the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) for Rs 11.5 crore at an auction at the Indian Merchant’s Chamber at Churchgate on Tuesday.

A Smuggling and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA) official said, “Raunaq Afroz restaurant, also known as Delhi Zaika at 33 Pakmodia Street, was sold for Rs 4.53 crore. A second property in Damarwala was sold for Rs 3.53 crore while the Shabnam Guesthouse at Bhendi Bazar fetched a price of Rs 3.52 crore. The auctioned property at Damarwala building includes six flats.

The first and the third floor apartments in Damarwala building are Dawood’s ancestral property, where he used to stay with this family before fleeing the country in 1986.

Hotel Raunaq Afroz was one of the first properties purchased by Dawood when he took control of the smuggling business from his mentor, Haji Mastan. Shabnam Guesthouse, a doublestorey structure at Yakub Street, was earlier occupied by Dawood’s sister Haseena and brother Iqbal.

According to an official statement by a SBUT spokesperson, "The three properties (Shabnam Guest House, Damarwala building and Hotel Raunaq Afroz) fall under our ongoing Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project. These buildings are in a dilapidated condition and unfit for living. Therefore, to ensure the safety of the families living in these buildings and to carry on with the redevelopment project, we participated in the bidding and acquired these properties." The Hindu Mahasabha, which had earlier expressed its intention to participate in the auction, failed to deposit the earnest money and was disqualified. Last week, a physical inspection of the three premises was conducted. After Dawood fled India in the 1990s, properties belonging to him and his associates were seized.