Mumbai: Drug lord with assets more than Rs 12 crore held

Rubina Niyaz Shaikh is a resident of KGN Dargah Lane, Bandra; (right) Nilofer Sandole lives in a small room in Mahim and is at large

A Bandra woman amassed a wealth of Rs 12 crore by selling party drug MD, popular among users as meow meow, the Narcotics Control Bureau has said. Rubina Niyaz Shaikh owns three bungalows in Malegaon, a flat in Mumbra, a shop in Kurla, a house in Bandra and two rooms at Mahim Causeway. NCB officials said Shaikh is the second-in-command of a gang run by another woman.

NCB has also recovered R80 lakh and gold worth R30 lakh from her. Officers from the anti-drug agency said Shaikh, who had fled the city months ago, was recently arrested from Mira Datar near Unjha in Gujarat. Her boss Nilofer Sandole is still at large.

Shaikh's spacious bungalows in Malegaon; (right) Dhanshree Apartments in Mumbra, where Rubina owns a flat. Pic/Sameer Markande

The names of Shaikh and Sandole surfaced after the NCB carried out huge raids to check the sale of drugs in slum pockets.

Shaikh is a resident of KGN Dargah Lane, Bandra. She bought a house there from the money earned by supplying drugs. About 40 peddlers work for Shaikh. They are mostly active in Mahim, Bandra, Kurla, Kasaiwada, Mumbra and Bhiwandi, said sources.

In the business for the past ten years, NCB sources said, her spacious and luxurious bungalows in Malegaon are worth over R2 crore. Three months ago, she bought a shop at Kurla for Rs 50 lakh.

In Mumbra, the female drug lord owns a flat in Dhanshree Apartments, Amrit Nagar. She has also bought three rooms in the name of Bhaijaan, the father-in-law of her niece Nagma, in Pandurang Chawl at Mahim Causeway. Sources said the agency has learnt that she owns some properties in Mira Road as well. Authorities are still in the process of ascertaining the extent of her real estate ownership.

As they arrested Shaikh, the NCB recovered cash, gold and 109 gm of meow meow from her. They have also arrested two more persons in the case.

Main operator a terror in Mahim

Officers said Shaikh and Sandole ran a network of peddlers. Sandole lives in a small room in Mahim and she has been a terror in her neighbourhood. Her father Sher Ali Sandole belongs to the land mafia and would forcibly occupy vacant plots and sell them by making huts there. Sources said there is so much fear in the area that no person can sell a room without involving the female drug lord.

Officers said Shaikh used to help Sandole in the initial days. Later, Sandole began receiving the drug consignments and Shaikh took charge of sales through peddlers.
The NCB has made Sandole an accused in a case involving sale of drugs to minor boys near Mahim Dargah. It also raided her Mahim residence and recovered R2 lakh cash and 250 gm of gold. Sandole faces many cases in the city. The Worli branch of the anti-narcotics cell had once arrested her in a drug case.

An NCB official said, "There is one case registered against Rubina Shaikh in NCB, three cases with Mumbai police. Shaikh had gone to a relative's place in Gujarat and we arrested her from there."

Mumbai NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede told mid-day, "So far, Rubina's assets worth R10-12 crore earned from drug smuggling have been found. Now, the investigation is going on. It could be even more."