Dawood aide handed over to Mumbai crime branch
DEPORTED Process of handing over Abdul Rauf alias Daud Merchant to Indian authorities was completed along the Bangladesh border
MUMBAI: Underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s aide Abdul Rauf, alias Daud Merchant, was deported to India and handed over to the crime branch of the Mumbai police waiting at the Bangladesh border, sources said on Thursday.
The process of handing him over to Indian authorities was completed along the international border in the presence of BSF personnel on Wednesday, the sources added.
The crime branch officials, along with Merchant, left for Mumbai on a flight on Thursday morning. Sources said he was to be produced in a local court soon after his landing, and will be taken into police custody for interrogation.
A four-member team of the crime branch had left for West Bengal a couple of days ago after the Bangladeshi government’s communication on deporting Merchant to India, a police officer said.
“There was close coordination between the Interpol of both the countries,” he told HT. “Secrecy was maintained on the date of exchange, considering the sensitivity of the matter.”
The official termed Merchant as a “prized catch”, as he had met Dawood’s aides in Dubai a few years ago. He was expected to know “several intricate details” pertaining to the gang and its activities, he said.
Merchant was convicted in the 1997 murder of singer Gulshan Kumar and was sentenced for life in 2002. He jumped parole in 2009 and went absconding when released to meet his family.
Merchant was re-arrested in Bangladesh after he entered the country without valid documents. He was convicted for intruding and illegally staying in Bangladesh and given a five-year prison term. When he completed the sentence, he was arrested again — in December 2014 — over possible terror links.
He completed his jail term a few days ago, following which the government there decided to hand him over to India citing his criminal conviction and diplomatic communication between the two countries.
Merchant has at least 10 cases registered against him in Mumbai and Mumbra (Amrut Nagar being his last area of residence there).
These include murder, violation of the Arms Act, attempt to murder and assault.