Mumbai, May 23: D company gangster Chhota Shakeel, a known lieutenant of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim has said that their gang has left cricket betting business eleven years ago.
Chhota Shakeel spoke to Times of India to say : “Bhai doesn't want haram ka cash (ill-gotten money) from betting, and we are now into real estate and white business.”
Here is the transcript of the conversation between Chhota Shakeel and the newspaper:
TOi: Your gang's name has cropped up in the betting racket. Please explain.
Chhota Shakeel: “Inityially our gang was involved in betting and match fixing and it was entirely handed by Bhais' trusted man Sharad Anna (Sharad Shetty). Anna passed away in 2002 and since then we have been out of it. Bhai has strictly warned us to stay away from betting. We are in to real estate now. Have you heard of us calling up anybody and threatening them in the last few years?
TOI: Earlier your gang was involved in betting and hawals operations.
Chhota Shakeel: Yes, our gang was involved in the controversy involving Hansie Cronje but after that we are out of it. None of Bhai's family members, not even his brother Anees, is involved.
TOI: Do you know Sunil Abichandani alias Sunil Dubai who is being linked to you?
Chhota Shakeel: We know Sunil but that does not mean we are involved. Like him there are several people we know who are associated with betting and match fixing. That does not mean we are involved. We have grown now; we have left those days far behind. We are into real estate and other white businesses. Bhai does not want this haram money coming out of betting.
TOI: Then why is your gang's name getting linked with this?
Chhota Shakeel : We have been watching press conferences by the Mumbai and Delhi cops and reading newspapers on the internet. Neither Delhi police chief Neeraj Kumar nor Mumbai joint commissioner Himanshu Roy has named us. There are some channels that are putting our gang's name into police officers' mouths. It's easy for the channels to do that as we do not get a chance to dney it. And news channels want our name so that their TRPs go up and they can show their stories make a big impact.
