D-Syndicate raises its ugly head again: This time on the target are Hindu leaders

Dawood continues to remain a top asset for Pakistan which continues to shelter him because he funds the ISI and many terror groups with the money he makes out of narcotics trade.

New Delhi, Aug 06: Recently, there has been a lot of activity relating to the D-Gang with several persons being arrested. This week the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Mohammad Salim alias Salim Fruit in connection with cases relating to smuggling, narco-terrorism, money laundering, circulating fake currency and raising funds for terror activities.

Salim is a close associate of D Company and has played an active role in extorting huge sums of money in the name of Dawood Ibrahim's right-hand man, Chotta Shakeel.

The arrest comes close on the heels of the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) arresting 47-year-old Parvez Zuber Vayed Memon, a resident of Versova in Andheri. He is an associate of Dawood's brother Anees Ibrahim and the ATS said that he was picked up on the charges of raising funds for acts of terror.

Sources in multiple agencies tell OneIndia that the ISI has tasked the D-Company to carry out terror strikes in India. The D-Gang has a deep-rooted network in many parts of the country and they have been asked to double up as terror modules, and strike terror in India.

Earlier this month a Delhi court was told by Danish Ahmed, a close aide of Dawood's nephew, that the gang had placed an order to purchase 40 AK-47 rifles. They got in touch with a Russian agent. The deal however did not go through after the agent learnt that the weapons were going to be used for attacks in Mumbai and Jammu and Kashmir.

These developments show that Dawood continues to remain a top asset for Pakistan which continues to shelter him and also deny about his existence in their country. Dawood remains a top asset because he funds the ISI and many terror groups with the money he makes out of narcotics trade.

The sources cited above said that apart from carrying out terror strikes, the D-Gang has also been tasked with carrying out targeted killings in India. The targets on their radar are politicians and Hindu leaders, the source also pointed out.

In this regard, the NIA had busted a module of the gang in Mumbai. It was learnt that Shakeel was sending money to this module which was scouting for targets in the country.

The agencies were also able to bust another module which had hired sharpshooters to kill Hindu leaders. It was learnt that members of the RSS and VHP were on their hit list. The entire operation was plotted by Rasool Party, a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim. The Intelligence Bureau had been tracking the calls between Party and the sharpshooters since December 2018. One of them was an Afghan national, while another is from Kasargod in Kerala.

Riyazzudin, Mohammad Saifi and Muthasim were handpicked by Party to undertake this operation. Muthasim, a resident of Kerala had shared the targets with Saifi. Riyazuddin was later roped in and was told to procure the arms for the operation. At the time of their arrest, the police recovered a pistol and six live cartridges from them.

Party has been under the radar of the agencies for long. He is one of the key conspirators in the murder of former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya. Party is a key player and was instrumental in transporting several youth from Gujarat and Hyderabad to a terror module in Bangladesh.