Here's how Mumbai Police plan to solve Dawood Ibrahim-Chota Shakeel equation

Yasin Mansoor Mohammed Farooq, alias Farooq Takla, being brought to St George's Hospital for a medical test. Pic/PTI

Mumbai Police is keeping a keen eye on Dawood Ibrahim's aide Yasin Mansoor Mohammed Farooq, alias Farooq Takla, recently extradited from Dubai in the 1993 serial blasts case and arrested here, as he holds a lot of information on D-Company's current operations and equations.

Officers said Farooq would be helpful in giving clarity on the current equation between Dawood and Chhota Shakeel and other members of the gang, amid reports of a rift between the two dons. Farooq, as per officers, is extremely close to the family, especially to Anees, and even to Shakeel, and is in the know of things. He is aware of the gang's functioning and will be able to throw light on a lot of its issues.

Local angle
Though Farooq had been in Dubai for around 25 years, he has a lot of information on the gang's activities in Mumbai and can reveal the new fronts the gang has put up to hide behind and diversify its activities. As per police sources, both Farooq and his twin brother Mohammed Ahmed Mansoor, who had been into smuggling, are close to the gang.

JJ shootout
As soon as Farooq was brought to the city, the Mumbai Crime Branch began getting together papers of the old cases he is involved in. Officers said they were getting the case papers of the 1992 JJ shootout ready and checking records and were likely to seek his custody once the CBI finished its interrogation in the 1993 blasts case.

Former assistant commissioner of police Suresh Walishetty said Farooq had harboured one of the injured, who had shot a police officer and was hurt in retaliatory fire. He'd taken the injured to his house, got a local doctor home and then taken them to a private hospital in the western suburbs. The crime branch, if it gets his custody, will have to reopen the case and collect evidence.

Haunting past
Farooq was booked in the 1993 blasts case for allegedly helping those who had gone to Pakistan for training; after the blasts, he'd fled to Dubai. A red corner notice was issued against him, and he was extradited after 25 years. His brother Mohammed was also booked in the blasts case, and later, acquitted.

Also read: Mumbai 1993 blasts case: Dawood Ibrahim's aide Yasin Mansoor Mohammed Farooq caught after 25 years!

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