Indian agencies probe Dawood's brother Anees Ibrahim's role in drug deals

New Delhi: India's most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim's younger brother and accused in the Mumbai serial blasts, Anees Ibrahim is under the lens of Indian security agencies for his involvement in smuggling and manufacturing of contraband narcotics.

Anees Ibrahim's close aide Kailash Rajput, a high profile drug operator based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is already on the wanted list of Mumbai Police and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), for smuggling drugs from India, highly placed sources told IANS on Tuesday.

Sources said Anees Ibrahim's linkages with a drug syndicate operating in South Mumbai came to light when his aide Arif Bhujwala was arrested by the NCB earlier this year from Raigarh in Maharashtra.

"During questioning of Arif Bhujwala, it was revealed that he was in touch with Kailash Rajput, an alleged financier of Anees Ibrahim, who also looks after the D-company's drug operation in Europe. Kailash Rajput's location has been traced in Dubai by our agencies," said an officer associated with investigations.

Based on specific inputs of intelligence agencies, the NCB has been trailing D-company's drug operators in India. The Bureau hit the jackpot when its sleuths busted a drug factory in South Mumbai, reportedly run by Dawood's aide Chinku Pathan in the third week of January this year. After Pathan's questioning, the sleuths arrested key drug operator Arif Bhujwala, linked with Anees Ibrahim. Bhujwala disclosed that he had earlier visited Dubai, where he met Anees Ibrahim's financier Kailash Rajput.

A report of Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of Mumbai Police reveals that Kailash Rajput has links with Mexican cartel and had been involved in smuggling huge consignments of drugs like Phenethyl-4-Piperidone and Fentanyl from India.

The report says that in 2019, a rice exporter was interrogated by the ANC who later revealed that during a holiday trip to Dubai in November 2018, he was introduced to Kailash Rajput. Through this exporter, Kailash Rajput tried to smuggle a shipment of drugs from Mumbai, which was to be pushed to Mexico.

Dossier on Kailash Rajput says that he fled to Dubai in 2014 and later came into contact with Anees Ibrahim, who is currently based in Karachi.

A major shift in D-company, sources said, is that earlier such underworld operations were directly looked at by Chhota Shakeel.

But recently Anees Ibrahim, who handles the finance of D-company, also looks after drug operations.

Sources said Anees Ibrahim's operatives are also based in Germany, Netherlands and Britain, who look after the lucrative drug deals of D-company.

Earlier Dawood's right hand man, Iqbal Mirchi was reportedly incharge of Dawood's drug operations in Europe.