‘Knew of arrest warrant, still came to city’
MUMBAI : “Born in 1963 to a dock labourer at the Mumbai Port Trust, I studied till Class 7. From 1981 to 1986, I worked as a labourer. My group got into a fight with a drug dealer, Dilip Panchal, and killed him. We were arrested. During our term in prison, I met gangster Ejaz Pathan and joined his gang.
After Babri demolition, Pathan went to Dubai. In February 1993, Ethesham, Munna, Akbar and Shah Nawaz came to my home at Chandshawali Darga and told me that Pathan wanted to meet me at a flat near Rajasthan Hotel in Khar. Pathan asked me to assist him in smuggling silver in coordination with one Khan. I later learned that Khan was Tiger Memon.
Khan along with Riyaz, Ethesham, Shahnawaz, Akbar and Munna came to the Vashi Bridge in a blue car. Javed Chikna, Nasir, Dhakla and some others met me at the spot in another car. From there, We went to Hotel Big Splash at Alibaug. Tiger, Yeda Yakub and some others were present there. Memon told us he was going to Shekhadi coast.
Memon, Chikna, Theba, Yakub and others went in a boat and came back with a bag and 100-150 boxes. Memon took out machine guns from the bag and gave it to Munna, Ethesham, Theba, Chikna and Shaikh Ali. He told them to guard it.
Some of the boxes were opened in front of us. They contained machine guns, hand grenades, bombs and chemicals.
Most of the boxes were put in secret cavities in five jeeps that left for Mumbai.
Ejaz asked me to join them for another landing. I was reluctant but Khan convinced me it was a silver consignment. But this consignment, too, was of arms. There were AK-56 rifles, ammunition, chemicals, and other weapons in the box. Tiger followed the same procedure and loaded it in a tempo and sent it to Mumbra.
On March 12, Munna and I rode from Mahim to Bandra. I feared for my life as I felt I had been trapped by Tiger.
On hearing that Ethesham, Munna, Babulal and others were arrested, I called Pathan, who got me air tickets to Dubai.
From there, I went to Pakistan. Pathan got me a Pakistani passport and made me his bodyguard.
I was later appointed as Anees Ibrahim’s bodyguard.
Despite being aware of an arrest warrant against me, I came to India via Nepal and started living with my family in Mira Road. In August 2008, I was arrested from Nalasopara.”