Police arrest Dawood’s close aide Arif Shaikh in extortion case

Anti-extortion cell of Mumbai crime branch Wednesday arrested underworld king Dawood Ibrahim’s close aide Arif Abubakar Shaikh in an extortion case.

He was languishing in Arthur road jail after he was arrested by NIA for his alleged link with Dawood gang.

He was later produced in the court which remanded him into police custody till Oct 21.

Shaikh, a resident of Mira Road on the outskirts of Mumbai, is a close relative of Chota Shakeel. Arif Shaikh was married to Fahmida, the sister of Chota Shakeel, who is said to be the CEO of D-Company. Fahmida died in 2020.

Arif Shaikh was deported to Mumbai from Dubai in 2006 after he was accused in the murder of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya.

He was also booked for several cases of extortion and land grabbing by the Mumbai Polices crime branch. In 2016, the anti-extortion cell of the Mumbai Police booked Shaikh for extortion and arrested him.

According to sources, Arif Shaikh had been running the operations for the gang on the orders of Chhota Shakeel and had allegedly been operating in suburban Mumbai.