Updated-Gutka
case: Dhariwal and Joshi, owners of Manikchand
Gutka and Goa Gutka - two of the country's leading chewing
tobacco firms, allegedly helped Dawood Ibrahim set up
a gutka business in Pakistan.
Rasiklal Dhariwal and Jagidish
Prasad Joshi,
king of chewing tobacco firms wanted by Interpol
New Delhi, Jan 24, 2005
(MCOCA), The Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime
Act court has issued a non-bailable warrant against
two gutkha barons, Rasik Dhariwal and J M Joshi.
Dhariwal is the owner of Manikchand Gutkha, while
Joshi owns Goa Gutkha. Both have been accused of having
underworld links.
India is awaiting Interpol's response to a request
to alert its member countries to arrest "gutka
kings" Rasiklal Dhariwal and Jagidish Prasad
Joshi, wanted for alleged links with underworld don
Dawood Ibrahim.
"Mumbai Police requested CBI (Central Bureau
of Investigation for a Red Corner Notice), and we
passed on the request to the Interpol headquarters
in France last week," CBI spokesman G. Mohanty
told IANS.
A Red Corner Notice would alert police in all 182
Interpol member countries to arrest the two, Mohanty
said.
According to Mumbai Police, Dhariwal and Joshi, owners
of Manikchand Gutka and Goa Gutka - two of the country's
leading chewing tobacco firms, allegedly helped Dawood
Ibrahim set up a gutka business in Pakistan.
Arrest warrants for the duo were issued under the
tough Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA),
for which Dhariwal had filed an application for cancellation.
But his lawyers failed to turn up in the court hearing
the matter.
The two businessmen, believed to be in the United
Arab Emirates, too failed to appear in court. They
were then declared absconders.
Dhariwal, in a statement this month, had said he
was willing to be questioned through video conferencing.
He also told media outlets he would return to India
after March since he is a non-resident Indian and
needs to spend the remaining months out of the country
to qualify for tax breaks.
No word is yet available on Joshi.
Both businessmen are wanted for allegedly meeting
Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan to sort out a business
dispute between them. Police say the gangster sorted
out their row but allegedly extorted a hefty fee from
the duo.
Their lawyers are likely to appeal the arrest warrants
when the matter comes up for hearing in a Mumbai court
Jan 24.
Police stumbled on the two men's links with Dawood
when they arrested a drug smuggler who confessed to
exporting gutka machines to Pakistan via the Middle
East.
Subsequent interrogation of several suspects led
the trail to the two men. However, both left the country
before they could be questioned. IANS
NRIpress
According to the police, Mr Dhariwal and Mr Joshi had
gone to Karachi in 2001 to seek Dawood’s help to
settle a dispute between them. Mr Joshi demanded Rs
40 crores from Mr Dhariwal to start his own business,
but the latter refused to pay, police sources claimed.
When the two could not solve the dispute, they approached
Dawood, they claimed.
Dawood allegedly asked Mr Dhariwal to pay Rs 7 crores
to Mr Joshi and charged Rs 4 crores as his fee for settling
the matter. According to the sources, Dawood also decided
to exploit their gutka manufacturing know-how. The businessmen
were ordered to arrange for machinery for manufacturing
gutka. The machinery was exported from Surat and Mumbai
to Dubai, where Dawood’s associate, Farukh Mansuri,
took delivery. Mansuri had fled Mumbai after the 1993
bomb blasts. The machinery was subsequently taken to
Karachi where Dawood’s brother Anees started manufacturing
gutka under the brand name "Fire".
Police say Panchariya and Jamruddin have so far exported
15 gutka-making machines to Pakistan. The two were arrested
on Mumbai exporters Mustafa Kabira and K. Arif’s
complaint with the Mumbai police in which they said
they were being forced to export five such machines.
Police say they have recorded conversations between
Jamiruddin, Panchariya and Anis. Dhariwal and Joshi
were close associates till they fell out in 1997.
According to the Mumbai police, the don’s younger
brother, Anees, is set to take over the Rs 300-crore
gutka business in Pakistan.
The police had arrested two other persons in October
2004, Jamiruddin Ghulam Rasul Ansari, alias Jumbo, and
his associate Rajesh Panchariya, for allegedly forcing
two Mumbai-based exporters, Mustafa Kabira and his partner
K. Arif, to help them acquire the machinery needed for
manufacturing gutka.
TOP
Any
comments on this article or
you have any news:
Click
here
|
