Jamshedpur: A Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team on Saturday arrested Dawood Ibrahim's aide Abdul Majeed Kutty from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. He was involved in a case related to explosives sent by Dawood Ibrahim at the behest of a Pakistani agency to carry out bomb blasts in Gujarat and Maharashtra on Republic Day in 1997.
According to reports, Abdul was residing in Jharkhand for several years after renaming himself as Kamal Khan in 1997. He has been absconding for the past 24 years. He is accused of selling 106 pistols, 750 cartridges, four kilograms of explosives, said reports.
Abdul Majeed Kutty was close to underworld don Dawood, his brother Anish, Chhota Shakeel, Abu Salem, Tiger Memon, Mohammad Dosa. Kutty fled to Bangkok and later to Malaysia in 1996 after explosives were seized in Mehsana.
Underworld don Dawood smuggled explosives from Pakistan through the Rajasthan Barmer border to Gujarat in 1996. Mehsana police seized 4 kg RDX, 10 Nang detonators, Pakistan-made automatic Star pistol and 10 Chinese-made explosives worth Rs 2.50 crore, including 125 pistols, 113 magazines and 750 cartridges.
Gujarat police had arrested Mohammad Fazal Mohammad Harnat Pathan Rahe, Dungar Pada, Ajmer, Rajasthan, Qureshi Anwar alias Pappu, Akhtar Rahe, Mumbai and Shakeel Ibrahim Qureshi Rahe. Abdul Majeed Kutty, underworld don Dawood and Abu Salem were named in the case.
Gujarat police's statement to media
Gujarat ATS DIG Himanshu Shukla and DYSP KK Patel came to know that Abdul Majeed Kutty was living near the Telco Mosque in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, in Barinagar under the disguise of Mohammad Kamal Mohammad. Based on the information, ATS DYSP KK Patel reached the spot with the team and arrested him.
According to police, Kutty was born in 1962 in Mahim, Bombay. Kutty moved to Dubai after his father's death, where he did on aluminium works until 1984 and returned to Mumbai.
According to ATS, underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his syndicate had plans to disturb peace in Gujarat and Mumbai and hence had gathered such a large quantity of arms and RDX.
Accused's connection with underworld Don Dawood
While meeting Mohammed Ali Road Kutti Jamat in Bombay, he came in contact with underworld don Dawood, his brother Anish Ibrahim, Tiger Memon, Abu Salem, Mohammad Dosa, Chhota Shakeel and Mustafa Dosa. Along with the Dawood gang, Kutty got involved in gold smuggling, customs theft and had often travelled to Dubai.
Kutty met Abu Salem in Dubai in 1993 and Salem asked him to deliver explosives to be detonated in Gujarat-Maharastra on Republic day. Kutty had sent Mohammad Fazal to collect the amount, who was caught later and then Kutty moved to Bangkok, where he worked casually until 1999.
Kutty then came in contact with Mamumiya Panjumiya of Porbandar and started smuggling gold. During this period, Kutti, who was in contact with Mohammad Inamali of Jamshedpur, was going to Malaysia when he made a passport in the name of Mohammad Kamal. Kutty stayed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and started a textile business.
Kutty came to Jamshedpur in 2019 and resided in the name of Kamal. His samples are sent for Covid-19 test. The Court had earlier sentenced the three accused to life imprisonment and imposed fine of Rs one lakh for possession of explosives worth Rs 2.5 crore.
Dawood Ibrahim is accused of the 1993 Mumbai bombings in which 257 people were killed and hundreds were injured. Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had earlier said that the presence of Dawood in Pakistan is not a secret. India has asked Pakistan several times to hand over Dawood Ibrahim.