Ejaz Yusuf Lakdawala, a former aide of elusive don Dawood Ibrahim, has been arrested in a joint operation by Mumbai police and Bihar police’s special task force, ending a six-month-long concerted effort to nab one of the country’s most wanted gangsters.
The 50-year-old — who had escaped from Nashik jail in 1998 — was arrested in Patna on Wednesday evening, from a place close to the inter-state bus stand under Jakkanpur police station in the city, before being taken to Mumbai.
Lakdawala was wanted in 27 cases of murder and attempt to murder, and around 80 known cases of extortion and extortion threats.
Sushil M. Khopde, Bihar police’s additional director-general (operations), said Mumbai police had been tracking the gangster on the basis of intelligence inputs and a team led by an officer of the rank of deputy commissioner had arrived on Wednesday morning.
“We provided the logistics, including the required manpower and support, to the team. The intelligence inputs had indicated that he was residing in the Jakkanpur police station area limits. He was arrested from a place near the bus stand and taken to Mumbai after the necessary paperwork,” Khopde told The Telegraph.
Khopde couldn’t say why Lakdawala was in Patna, but added the location of his arrest suggested he may have been trying to cross over to Nepal or somewhere else.
“He could not be interrogated in Patna due to paucity of time. Anything concrete related to his presence in Patna will come out only after Mumbai police interrogate him,” Khopde said.
Lakdawala was involved with the gangs of both Dawood and Chhota Rajan before forming his own gang. He later left Mumbai and lived in Canada, the US, UK, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the UAE and a few African countries. He had a well-equipped base in Nepal too.
The gangster’s arrest comes close on the heels of the arrest of his daughter Sonia Shaikh at Mumbai airport while she was trying to fly to Nepal on a forged passport on December 28. She is said to have provided clues that helped the police catch him.
