Dubai crisis: Dawood dials builder, asks him to pay up

MUMBAI: It is rare that the don himself picks up the phone and threatens anyone. That job is left to his lieutenants like Chhota Shakeel. But since the stakes are very high and the builder is also in the top league, don Dawood Ibrahim decided to issue the threat himself.

Sources in the security establishment told TOI on Wednesday that the Karachibased Dawood Ibrahim had last week threatened a builder with dire consequences if he did not part with a huge sum of money. Not only did he issue the threat, but also activated his ace shooters to tackle the unwilling builder.

Alarmed by this development, certain middlemen, including underworld operative Mohammed Macchi, are trying to broker a settlement. Some of them are believed to have flown to Karachi to personally mollify the don. A top crime branch official said: “We will enter the picture only if a formal complaint is lodged with us.’’

The apparent reason why the builder has not approached the crime branch’s anti-extortion cell so far is that he himself was using the don’s finances for several of his projects.

“The dispute is over the quantum of returns to be paid to ‘mucchad’ aka Dawood Ibrahim. The stakes are stupendous and hence, the don has himself got into the act. The collapse of the Dubai economy is already hurting his business interests and this dispute in Mumbai has complicated the situation for him,’’ a senior security official observed.

It is well-known that the underworld has huge stakes in the real estate industry in the Mumbai-Thane belt, both in fresh constructions and in old buildings and slum rehab projects. An SRA official said: “We receive calls from the ‘bhais’ who ask us to approve the projects of their frontmen. We dare not complain to the police.’’